[smart (OP)]

1. Why does prolonged antipsychotic medication leads to dopamine supersensitivity?

2. What is the purpose of stabilizing the dopamine system with antipsychotics if the outcomes is dopamine supersensitivity?

3. Do you believe people are born with schizophrenia or is it acquired during early adulthood?

[timey]

Psychotic episodes can be caused by the body releasing abnormal amounts of dopamine in the brain...
Is it the fact that prolonged anti-psychotic medication is suppressing dopamine levels in a manner that the body then compensates for by producing more dopamine, in much the same way that heroine users produce less endorphin because the drug is overloading the body's system with endorphin?

I watched an interesting episode of Incredible Medicine Doctor Weston's casebook, where a young woman with extreme symptoms of a sudden onslaught of schizophrenia illuminated the fact that 20% (I think I remember correctly) of schizophrenia patients are suffering from an auto immune response.

[smart (OP)]

Psychotic episodes can be caused by the body releasing abnormal amounts of dopamine in the brain...
Is it the fact that prolonged anti-psychotic medication is suppressing dopamine levels in a manner that the body then compensates for by producing more dopamine, in much the same way that heroine users produce less endorphin because the drug is overloading the body's system with endorphin?

Thanks for sharing, timey!

That is an interesting theory.

However not all atypical antipsychotics are designed as pure dopamine blockers. Aripiprazole, a third-generation antipsychotic, may act as a dopamine partial agonist and doesn't block neurotransmission when dopamine availability is low.

I think the antipsychotic-induced dopamine supersensitivity theory of schizophrenia is credible, since that antipsychotics are almost always prescribed to the patient for an extended period. This may induce psychotic-like symptoms in individuals with no prior history of psychosis.

See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27264948

[evan_au]

antipsychotics are almost always prescribed to the patient for an extended period. This may induce psychotic-like symptoms in individuals with no prior history of psychosis

That's why you don't give medicines to healthy people; first consult with an appropriately trained medical professional.

On a slightly different tack, I heard of some research in mice that found that sleep deprivation disrupted the dopamine system and made the mice more sensitive to pain, and less sensitive to conventional analgesics. Restoring normal amounts of sleep restored the dopamine system.

So maybe the first line of treatment is to ensure the patient is getting a decent amount of sleep??

[smart (OP)]

Dopamine supersensitivity and oxidative stress in the frontal cortex are 2 poorly understood and controversial
side-effects of chronic antipsychotic treatment. Theses factors taken together can influence the pathology of schizophrenia (first-episode psychosis).

[RD]

3. Do you believe people are born with schizophrenia or is it acquired during early adulthood?

Schizophrenia is strongly genetic ...

The risk is highest for an identical twin of a person with schizophrenia.
He or she has a 40 to 65 percent chance of developing the disorder.

  https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia-booklet/index.shtml

[smart (OP)]

Schizophrenia is strongly genetic ...

If schizophrenia is genetic, there should be reliable genetic tests to detect schizophrenia inside the fetus.

[Bored chemist]

3. Do you believe people are born with schizophrenia or is it acquired during early adulthood?

Schizophrenia is strongly genetic ...

The risk is highest for an identical twin of a person with schizophrenia.
He or she has a 40 to 65 percent chance of developing the disorder.

  https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/schizophrenia-booklet/index.shtml

That's interesting, but it leaves me wondering what the correctional is like in fraternal twins.
It's the difference between those 2 groups that gives the best indication of the extent of genetic involvement.

[Bored chemist]

Schizophrenia is strongly genetic ...

If schizophrenia is genetic, there should be reliable genetic tests to detect schizophrenia inside the fetus.

Only if someone actually finds the genes responsible.

[smart (OP)]

Only if someone actually finds the genes responsible.

We can safely assume schizophrenia is not genetic since nobody will ever finds all genes responsible for common neurological variations in the genome.

[smart (OP)]

Could antipsychotics withdrawal cause dopamine supersensitivity?