Abstract

Schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disorder, characterized by disturbances in thought, mood and behaviour. It affects about 1% of the world's population. The clinical features of schizophrenia overlap with other psychiatric disorders and their diagnosis remains difficult. Although its etiology remains unclear, a good deal of risk factors which develop schizophrenia is known. The typical and atypical antipsychotics used in the management of schizophrenia produce various adverse effects which affect almost all the systems of the body and produce extra pyramidal symptoms such as dystonia, akathisia, pseudoparkinsonism, tardive dyskinesia and neuroleptic malignant syndrome causing misery to the patients throughout life time. Research is being carried to study the effectiveness of herbal antipsychotic drugs in schizophrenia, which are expected to be devoid of side effects. Developing a potent neuroleptic with minimum or no side effects will be a major breakthrough in the treatment of schizophrenia. This article attempts to touch on some of the important recent developments in the understanding of schizophrenia.