Posted on: 31 August 2022
CNWL staff, with colleagues from West London NHS Trust, Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, the Division of Psychiatry, Imperial College London, and the School of Health and Social Care, Edinburgh Napier University, wrote this article for BMC Psychiatry.
After a through discussion they conclude:
“More than half of people who use antipsychotic medication for psychosis report having sexual dysfunction. The REMEDY trial aimed to find out if switching antipsychotic medication provides an effective way to reduce sexual dysfunction among people with psychosis .....
“Sexual dysfunction is a distressing and debilitating side effect of antipsychotic medication and can lead to poor adherence and reduced quality of life. A nested qualitative study of staff who participated in a study examining an intervention to manage this problem revealed that many felt uncomfortable discussing sexual dysfunction with their patients and that the management of these side effects was not a priority for the NHS mental health services. In addition, there were concerns that switching antipsychotics could destabilise mental health. Future research is required in this important yet neglected area of medicines management, but it is likely to difficult to complete unless health care organisations and senior clinicians demonstrate greater commitment to improving sexual functioning among people with psychosis.”
BMC Psychiatry is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of the prevention, diagnosis and management of psychiatric disorders, as well as related molecular genetics, pathophysiology, and epidemiology.