Antipsychotics are a class of pharmaceutical that has both a sedative effect and blocks dopamine receptors. They're used to treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other forms of mental illness. They generally fall into two classes:
- Typical, older drugs that came into use in the 1950s, are currently off-patent, and are inexpensive
- Atypical, newer drugs that were discovered in the 1970s, are generally under patent, and are more expensive
Both classes have severe side effects, although those side effects are less severe with the atypical class.