Tranquilizer chlorpromazine
Chlorpromazine, also known by its trade name Thorazine, is a major tranquilizer and antipsychotic medication that revolutionized the treatment of severe mental illnesses, particularly schizophrenia. Developed in the early 1950s by French chemist Paul Charpentier, chlorpromazine was initially intended to be used as a surgical anesthetic. However, its significant calming effects led to its application in psychiatry, where it was first administered to patients by psychiatrist Pierre Deniker. The results were transformative, showing not only a reduction in agitation but also improvements in symptoms like hallucinations and delusions.
With the approval of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1954, chlorpromazine became widely used in the United States, enabling many patients to leave mental institutions and reintegrate into society. This marked the start of a new era in psychopharmacology, paving the way for the development of additional psychiatric medications. Despite its effectiveness, chlorpromazine is known to induce side effects similar to Parkinson's disease, leading to further research on the relationship between brain chemistry and mental health. Overall, chlorpromazine remains a pivotal development in the treatment of psychoses, reflecting a significant shift in psychiatric practice from primarily psychotherapy to pharmacological interventions.
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Tranquilizer chlorpromazine
Identification Class of drugs used to treat symptoms of psychoses that psychiatrists dubbed “tranquilizers” because of their sedating effects
Date First synthesized in 1950; discovered as an antipsychotic in 1952; and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1954
Psychiatrists discovered that chlorpromazine was effective for long-term usage, was not addictive, and actually improved the functioning of some mentally dysfunctional patients. This discovery led to a new era of psychopharmacological therapy to treat severe mental illness.
Prior to the discovery of chlorpromazine, psychiatrists rarely used drugs to treat severe mental illnesses; for the most part they used psychotherapy, especially psychoanalysis. In the most severe cases, they resorted to somatic therapies such as electric shock therapy and lobotomies. When they did use drugs, psychiatrists used sedatives, especially phenobarbital, to calm patients. However, these drugs provided only limited relief of symptoms and could be addictive.
During the late 1940’s, Parisian surgeon Henri Laborit was searching for a drug that would lessen the strain of surgery on patients; the anesthesia used during surgery was a shock to patients’ systems and lengthened their recovery rates. Laborit experimented with certain antihistamines because of their sleep-inducing side effects. He discovered that patients were less anxious prior to surgery and that he was able to administer less anesthetic when he used the antihistamine promethazine.
Rhone-Poulenc, a French pharmaceutical company and maker of promethazine, began searching for other drugs to sedate patients during surgery. It was during this search that Paul Charpentier, a French chemist, synthesized chlorpromazine in December of 1950, and Rhone-Poulenc released it to doctors in 1951. Laborit was impressed by the sedating effects of chlorpromazine on his patients and believed that it could also have psychiatric benefits. Although psychiatrists did not use medications to treat mental illness as a practice, Laborit’s persistence led psychiatrist Pierre Deniker to administer chlorpromazine to patients who suffered from the most severe symptoms of schizophrenia. Deniker was astonished to find that the drug not only helped to calm his agitated patients but also helped with other symptoms of schizophrenia, including hallucinations and delusions.
In the United States, the pharmaceutical company Smith Kline obtained the rights to market chlorpromazine. With the help of Deniker, they persuaded state mental institutions to test the drug on their patients. As in France, the results were remarkable, and word spread throughout the United States about the amazing new medication. After the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug in 1954, doctors began widely using chlorpromazine to treat psychoses.
Impact
Chlorpromazine was the first effective treatment for schizophrenia and other psychoses, enabling many affected patients to leave mental institutions and re-enter society. It marked the beginning of an era of psychopharmacology in which other drugs were discovered to treat mental illnesses. In addition, Deniker and Jean Delay studied the most effective dosages of chlorpromazine and learned that although the dosages varied, the drug was most effective when it caused Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms. The discovery of this negative side effect of the drug led to studies on how chemicals in the brain affect the onset of Parkinson’s disease and schizophrenia.
Bibliography
Barondes, Samuel H. Better than Prozac: Creating the Next Generation of Psychiatric Drugs. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Barondes outlines the major psychopharmacological discoveries from the 1950’s to the present.
Thuillier, Jean, David Healy, and Gordon Hickish. Ten Years Which Changed the Face of Mental Illness. London: Martin Dunitz, 1999. The authors of this book, including Thuillier, who worked with Pierre Deniker, recount the discoveries of chlorpromazine and other major psychopharmacological discoveries occurring between 1949 and 1960.