Diseases Leading to Psychotropic Drug Therapy

Abstract

The use of psychotropic drugs is on the increase. The purpose of this study was to analyse the information provided by patients themselves with regard to the nature of the diseases and the symptoms for which psychotropic drugs are prescribed. The subjects (N=307) for the study were chosen from among people visiting a pharmacy. The cases were consecutively picked up of customers receiving psychotropic drugs by prescription; the control group comprised the next-following customers to buy some other prescribed drug. Comparison of the two groups suggested that the reasons for the increased use of drugs should be traced back to the doctor and the factors that influence him. It seems that one mechanism to which the increased utilization of psychotropic drugs is attributable arises from the broadened field of indications.

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