Abstract
The patients' perspective of antipsychotics treatment has been largely neglected for a long time. Scientific interest in this field of strong clinical relevance started especially with the development of atypical antipsychotics.
Striatal dopamine D2 receptor occupancy is correlated with subjective well-being. Atypical antipsychotics are associated with a better well-being, but dosage is more important than the kind of medication.
Early improvement of subjective well-being is a major predictor for chance of remission and long-term outcome. The Subjective Well-being under Neuroleptic treatment scale (SWN) is the most widely used self rating scale in research of subjective well-being in schizophrenia.
The assessment of subjective well-being can be helpful for selecting the optimal drug for the individual patient. A better consideration of the patient’s perspective might improve therapeutic alliance, medication adherence and the chance to achieve remission.
We reviewed available publications on subjective well-being with antipsychotic treatment and SWN.