A medicine that affects mood, thoughts, behavior, or perception is psychotropic. There are five main types of psychotropic medications. Each type works a bit differently, with specific uses and side effects.

• Psychotropic medications can take several weeks to show their full effects.
• Stimulants used for ADHD can increase dopamine levels in the brain.
• Antipsychotic drugs are sometimes used off-label to treat anxiety and depression.
• Not all psychotropic medications require long-term use; some are for short-term treatment.
• Medication adherence is crucial for the long-term effectiveness of psychotropic drugs.
• Mood stabilizers like lithium require regular blood tests to monitor levels and avoid toxicity.
• Combining psychotropic medications with therapy can enhance treatment outcomes.

Psychotropic medications work by improving the balance of major chemicals in the brain. In medical terms, we call these chemicals neurotransmitters. These chemicals work as messengers to create communication between your brain cells. 

The decrease or increase in the number of neurotransmitters affects mental health in many ways.

There are five main classes of psych meds and tens of drug medicines that belong to them.

Antipsychotics are medications that are used to treat mental disorders, especially psychosis. Some of the prominent symptoms of psychosis are hallucinations, delusions, hearing voices, paranoia, or confused perception. 

It treats mental conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. In children, it can relieve autism.

 It helps restore the balance of the chemicals in the brain. It is prescribed to treat mental conditions, including bipolar disorder. In some cases, it is also used to treat schizophrenia.

Olanzapine is mainly used to treat schizophrenia. However, it can relieve the symptoms of manic-depressive disorder. 

It alters and increases the activity of certain chemicals in the brain to treat bipolar disorder. Sometimes it is also prescribed to treat schizophrenia in children.

It treats schizophrenia in children aged 13 years or above.

This drug treats schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and mana. Elderly patients who have dementia should not use it.

Antianxiety psychotropic medications mainly work to treat anxiety symptoms, such as panic attacks, extreme worry, or tension.

 It eases the symptoms related to anxiety. It works by decreasing abnormal activity and excitement in the brain to help with panic disorders as well.

It treats seizures because of panic attacks, epilepsy, and restless leg syndrome. It is not an OTC medicine and can only be available on prescription.

 It treats fits and withdrawal symptoms. It can also treat anxiety. It is used as a sedative before medical procedures.

It treats anxiety and anxiety-related sleep disorders.

Also known as sleeping pills, hypnotics work to induce and improve sleep. These drugs heal other sleep-related problems such as sleeplessness, insomnia, poor-quality sleep, and so on.

 It treats insomnia and anxiety. Butobarbital is used only for shorter periods.

It is prescribed as a short-term treatment for insomnia.

It treats insomnia and belongs to central nervous system depressants. It improves sleep quality.

This drug slows down the nervous system to treat insomnia. Typically it is used for 7 to 10 days.

 This is prescribed as a sleeping pill that makes you seep through the night without interruptions.

Mood stabilizer medications are used to treat problems like bipolar disorder and regulate extreme emotions. These are considered to be the most effective treatment for bipolar disorder.  

These medications help reduce mood swings and depressive episodes to let you enjoy all the good the world offers.

This drug treats schizophrenia and sometimes bipolar disorder in adults. It can be used with other medicines to treat mania.

It controls seizures in people with epilepsy. It can also treat facial nerve pain.

It helps control and prevent seizures in epilepsy. It can also treat bipolar disorder.

This drug is mainly used to treat bipolar disorder.

It treats epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and sometimes migraines. It is only available on prescription.

Stimulants are the fifth class of psychoactive drugs that help manage behavioural problems. These work to improve mental and physical functionality by speeding up the message travelling between the brain and the body. 

With a calming effect, stimulants also improve concentration.

It is a recreational drug to improve libido and produce euphoria. It also reduces fatigue and increases muscle strength.

It treats ADHD in children and adults. This drug is a complete treatment in itself.

It is used to treat ADHD. Moreover, it can improve cognitive ability and athletic performance and induce euphoria.

 It mainly treats ADD and ADHD.

It controls ADHD and binge eating disorders in adults.

This medicine stimulates the central nervous system to treat ADHD and increase cognitive performance.

There are many side effects of psych medicines, but they also reduce with time. In case of any severe side effects, talk to your doctor, who may change the prescription, or suggest you take them at different times. 

With that, you can also try non-medication activities such as exercise or healthy eating to manage after and side effects.

Many other factors reflect the effectiveness of a given medication. Ultimately, you need to speak with your doctor about your situation to decide which one is the best for you. Though these drugs are among the most effective in treating common mental disorders, their use should be done cautiously. 

Sometimes, using these medications might not be the best option. Many other factors also play a role in the effectiveness of a medication.