METABOLIC INSTABILITY, ESPECIALLY
weight gain, is associated with some of the
psychotropic medications administered to clients in
the mental health setting. They include antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics used
alone or in combination. Drug therapy using
antipsychotic drug treatment is the cornerstone of
treatment in mental health for psychotic disorders,
such as schizophrenia. The treatment of choice for
most clients experiencing psychosis is atypical, or
second-generation, antipsychotic medication. Firstgeneration or typical antipsychotic medicines came
in the market in the middle of the last century and
were developed to work on dopamine and serotonin
receptors in the brain. These drugs were found to