[Therapeutic treatment with neuroleptics. I: State of research on mechanisms of action, effectiveness and compliance in treatment of psychoses].

In the management of schizophrenic psychoses, drug medication with neuroleptics occupies a central position and is in fact a first-choice treatment. The considerable side effects and late sequelae of this treatment are known to impair the quality of life of the patient and have comne to the fore once again in recent years as the starting points of controversial discussions among specialists and among those who are engaged in matters concerning psychiatric policies or "politics". The cornerstones of this debate are demonstrated and explained on the basis of the present clinico-psychiatric state of research in respect of effectivity predictors, types of mechanisms of action. Long-term courses of treatment with neuroleptics, and different dosage schedule strategies.