Does antipsychotic prevent depression?

I told my pdoc that whenever i reduce the dose of my risperdal, i go into depression…my pdoc told me that risperdal doesn’t help with depression, it only helps with delusion and hallucinations… But once i reduced too much for a week i had severe depression followed by hypomania, when i upped depression went away.

I know someone, not sz - that was prescribed Risperdal for depression. She’s bipolar. It is working.

From what you say,you should request your doctor not to reduce your dose and stick to the dose that doesn’t makes you feel depress,I think that’s the best option

I think your doctor is wrong. Show him these stories:

http://www.medscape.org/viewarticle/565692

Nov. 2, 2007 – The antipsychotic drug Risperdal may ease depression in patients who don’t respond to antidepressants, a new study shows.

The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, included about 274 depressed adults (average age: mid-40s) who had been depressed for nearly 17 years.

At the study’s start, the patients took various antidepressants for four weeks. But their depression didn’t lift.

The researchers split the patients into two groups. One group took Risperdal for six weeks. The other group took a pill containing no medicine (placebo). All patients continued their regular antidepressant medication.

Six weeks later, depression was in remission for about 24.5% of the Risperdal patients, compared with almost 11% of those taking the placebo.

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Sounds as if I need to go on Risperdal again! I was taking haloperidol and it caused depression so I stopped it. I want to go back on amisulpride (Solian) again like I was because I think it also helps with the depression/negative symptoms. anyone else been on amisulpride and found it to help depression?

Why would your doctor down it when you said it made you depressed? Was he trying to prove to you it didn’t work that way or something?

Thank you all for your respond!

I told him that i would still be delusion free with low dose, but the reason i dont want to go below my optimal dose is that i go into depression… And my pdoc said than lets lower it, he said that risperdal doesn’t help with depression, but i had an bad experience on low dose. I had depression and hypomania.

Recently my son’s main nurse told me that Clozapine/Clozaril doesn’t have a mood stabilizing component. I disagree as would my son’s past nurses and pdoc. To my knowledge these medications work on dopamine, serotinin and glutamate neurotransmitters. Dopamine and serotinin affect mood.

Saphris is a mood stabilizer and anti-psychotic too. Although I’m also taking Zoloft on top of that for my depression.

I take Risperdal, I also suffer from bipolar and depression. Risperdal helps my depression a bit and stabilizes my mood. Latuda, Abilify, Seroquel XR help with depression

Oh, so this is the first time this has happened. Ok.

what about geodon/ziprasidone?