What Is Fluphenazine Used For?

What is fluphenazine used for? The medication is used to treat psychotic disorders in adults (such as schizophrenia, delusional disorder, and schizoaffective disorder). Fluphenazine is used for off-label reasons as well, such as treating dementia and agitation. The antipsychotic medication works by blocking or lessening the effects of dopamine in the brain, which may become elevated in people with psychotic disorders.

 

What Is Fluphenazine Used For? -- An Overview

Fluphenazine (Prolixin®) is a prescription medicine known as a "typical antipsychotic" that has been licensed to treat psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia.
 
Schizophrenia is one of the most confusing and disabling mental illnesses. The term refers to a group of mental disorders that involve abnormal thinking. Although the causes of schizophrenia are not fully understood, it is currently thought that genetics and environmental factors play important roles. Depending on the type of schizophrenia (see Types of Schizophrenia), symptoms may include the following:
 
  • Hallucinations
  • Delusions
  • Thought disorders
  • Disorders of movement
  • Flat affect (immobile facial expression, monotonous voice)
  • Lack of pleasure in everyday life
  • A diminished ability to initiate and sustain planned activity
  • Speaking infrequently, even when forced to interact
  • Poor executive functioning (the ability to absorb and interpret information and make decisions based on that information)
  • An inability to stay focused
  • Problems with working memory (the ability to keep recently learned information in mind and use it right away).
     
Although psychotherapy may be helpful for schizophrenia (see Psychosocial Therapy for Schizophrenics), medication is often essential to successful schizophrenia treatment. Fluphenazine can help improve the symptoms of schizophrenia, but it is not a cure.
 
(What Is Fluphenazine Used For? Continued: Page 2)
Add this article to your Favorites     Email this article     Print
Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD;