OFF-LABEL USE OF SECOND-GENERATION ANTIPSYCHOTICS

All second-generation antipsychotics are licensed for the treatment of schizophrenia. Some of these agents are also approved for the treatment of acute mania and for maintenance therapy of bipolar disorder. In view of a broader spectrum of activity and a more favourable tolerability profile as compared to first-generation compounds, second generation antipsychotics are increasingly used oil-label for the treatment of many psychiatric conditions, either as monotherapy, or as an augmentation strategy. This article reviews the available data concerning the use of second generation antipsychotics in the most common off-label indications in adult and elderly psychiatric patients, such as bipolar depression, behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, borderline personality disorder, dopaminergic psychosis and generalized anxiety disorder.