Risperidone and Autism Ranking:

History

Risperidone (Belivon, Rispen, Risperdal in the United States) was developed as an atypical antipsychotic medication by Janssen Pharmaceutica. It was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993 for use in adults.

According to NICE, antipsychotic drugs, such as risperidone, are now in common use to treat autistic people.

"Antipsychotic drugs have been widely used in people with autism; for instance, a longitudinal study of 286 adolescents and adults in the US found that they were the second most commonly taken drug among people aged over 20 years (38%), after antidepressants (44%) (Esbensen et al., 2009). In a UK audit of drug use for challenging behaviour in a learning disabilities sample (in which the commonest coexisting diagnosis was autism), 96% were prescribed antipsychotic medication (Marshall, 2004). In another community sample of people with a learning difficulty, Dhumad and Markar (2007) reported that autism was the reason for prescribing antipsychotic medication in 20% of people."

Updated

17 Jun 2022

Last Review

01 Jul 2018

Next Review

01 Jul 2024