Antipsychotic Medications - First versus Second Generation

Doctor Anil Malhotra compares the effectiveness of of second generation antipsychotic medications, such as Clozapine, with earlier medications.

The first generation of antipsychotic medications, also called typical neuroleptic agents, were effective antipsychotic agents but were also noted to cause neuromotor side effects such as extrapyramidal symptoms and potentially long-term neuromotor side effect called tardive dyskinesia, a potentially irreversible movement disorder. The second generation of antipsychotic drugs, also called the atypical antipsychotic drugs, are not as notable for their propensity to induce neuromotor side-effects although there are other side-effects associated with them. The prototypical atypical antipsychotic agent was Clozapine, which does not seem to cause very much neuromotor side effects or tardive dyskinesia and there are some data with Clozapine to show greater efficacy in treatment-resistant schizophrenia than with typical antipsychotic agents. The remainder of the second generation or atypical antipsychotic drugs is still I think a matter of debate whether they have increased efficacy over the first generation of drugs.