title: Stimulants for impulsive violence in schizophrenia spectrum disordered women: a case series and brief review.
abstract: High violence prevalence is a common concern for forensic psychiatric settings. Categorizing underlying drivers of violence has helped to direct treatment and management efforts toward psychotic, predatory, and impulsively violent psychopathology. This article describes a series of cases in which clozapine provided adequate control of psychosis in women suffering schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. Nevertheless, impulsive violence remained problematic. Add-on methylphenidate was found to be safe and effective in curbing impulsive violent behavior in this select group of patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Department of State Hospitals-Patton, Patton, California, USA.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Skoretz
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, University of California-Irvine, Orange, California, USA.
authors.forename: Chin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003024:Clozapine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007175:Impulsive Behavior; D008774:Methylphenidate / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014754:Violence
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D008774:Methylphenidate; D003024:Clozapine
keywords: Impulsivity; schizophrenia; stimulants; violence; women