PSYCHOTROPICS

The overal trend is toward an increase in the prescribing of psychotropic medication. The reasons for the increase are the availability of more medications which are effective, safer medications which decrease the risk of mobidity or fatality from overdose, the increasing comfort level of primary care doctors in the prescribing of psychotropic medication, the decreased stigma in taking psychotropic medication along with an enhanced awareness of the benefits that can accrue from these medications, and finally new imaging techniques are confirming the foundation of psychiatric illness is in biology and that this disorders represent abnormal biological functioning of the brain -- not a weakness of character. Accordingly, the use of medication seems more appropriate and acceptable.