Chronic Use of Antipsychotics in Schizophrenia: Are We Asking the Right Question?

Abstract

There is an ongoing debate about the potential risks and benefits of long-term antipsychotic treatment in schizophrenia. The data for and against the chronic use of these medicines is mostly indirect, either from observational studies potentially exposed to reverse causation bias or randomized controlled studies that do not cover beyond 2-3 years. We propose that perseverating on the question of what positive or negative outcomes are causally associated with chronic antipsychotic treatment may not lead to better answers than the limited ones that we have, given the limited feasibility of more conclusive studies. Rather, we argue that addressing the research question of the risks and benefits of antipsychotic discontinuation from a perspective of personalized medicine, can be more productive and meaningful to people living with schizophrenia. To this end, research that can quantify the risk of relapse after treatment continuation for a given individual should be prioritized. We make the case that clinically feasible neuroimaging biomarkers have demonstrated promise in related paradigms, and that could be offering a way past this long debate on the risks and benefits of chronic antipsychotic use.