What Is Quetiapine Used For?

What is quetiapine used for? The drug is most often used to treat bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. However, quetiapine can only help manage the symptoms associated with these conditions and is not a cure for them. In addition, it is not approved for use in children. Quetiapine is used for off-label reasons on occasion, such as the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder and behavior problems associated with dementia in the elderly.

Quetiapine Fumarate

What Is Quetiapine Used For? -- An Overview

Quetiapine fumarate (Seroquel^®) is a prescription medicine known as an "atypical antipsychotic" that has been licensed to treat the following conditions:

Quetiapine Uses for 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 an important role. 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 in schizophrenia treatment. Quetiapine can help improve the symptoms of schizophrenia. It also helps to prevent schizophrenia relapses (worsening of schizophrenia); however, the medication is not a cure for schizophrenia.

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