Polypharmacy in Clinical Psychiatry - A Brief Review

Psychiatrists in clinical practice choose polypharmacy as a therapeutic strategy to control the symptoms. Polypharmacy is much more common than would be expected in contrast to the available treatment guidelines. Higher rates of relapse in patients receiving monotherapy have been documented. Polypharmacy in general clinical practice may be employed with some justification. Unwanted use of these practices may be avoided for better patient care. Limited knowledge and the wide spread marketing has led to widespread acceptance of polypharmacy practices. Some remedial measures are needed in reducing this practice of polypharmacy in our country. In this article an attempt has been made to highlight this important clinical problem for awareness of mental health professionals. Key-words: Polypharmacy, psychiatry, clinical practice