A latest research paper shows that people taking antipsychotic drugs for psychiatric disorders report lower violent crimes.
For the study, researchers from the United Kingdom and Sweden analysed the data of over 80,000 patients. Of them 40,937 were men and 41,710 were women. The data was gathered from the Swedish national health registries and all patients were prescribed some kind of antipsychotic or mood stabilizing drug between 2006 and 2009. During the study time, 2,657 men or 6.5 percent and 604 women or 1.4 percent had committed a violent crime.
The researchers examined the rate of violent crimes when patients were undergoing their medications and when they were not. The study findings revealed that the participants who were under antipsychotic medications reported a drop in their crime rates by 45 percent compared to those without the medications.
Those who took mood stabilizers, their rate of violent crimes fell by 24 percent. Researchers stated that they did not find any link between taking both medications and fall in the patients' violent crime rates.
"Patients with psychiatric disorders are at risk of perpetrating violent acts, as well as being victims. Until now, we have not known whether antipsychotics and mood stabilizers reduce risks of violence. By comparing the same people when they are on medication compared to when they are not, our study provides evidence of potentially substantial reductions in risk of violence, and suggests that violence is to a large extent preventable in patients with psychiatric disorders," lead study author Dr Seena Fazel of Oxford University, explained in a press release.
The study, 'Antipsychotics, mood stabilisers, and risk of violent crime,' was published in 'The Lancet.'
