Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors in the treatment of self-injurious behaviour in adults with mental retardation
✍ Scribed by Ashok N. Singh; Daleen Kleynhans; Gerta Barton
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 75 KB
- Volume
- 13
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0885-6222
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Self-injurious behaviour (SIB) amongst people with learning disabilities is very common and is often dicult to treat. This study supports the theory that serotonin is involved in the development of SIB in these individuals. Twelve patients suering from mild to severe mental retardation were treated with either ¯uoxetine or ¯uvoxamine. Ten of them showed marked improvement of their SIB, clinically as well as objectively (according to scores on the adaptive behaviour scale). The treatment had to be discontinued in the other two patients because of the development of severe adverse eects to the medication. The results of this study are therefore in line with previous studies showing the eectivity of Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors in the treatment of SIB in mentally retarded individuals.