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Antiepileptics (Anticonvulsants)

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Practitioner’s Guide to Psychoactive Drugs for Children and Adolescents

Abstract

Child mental health professionals should be interested in anticonvulsant drugs for three reasons. First, epilepsy is a relatively common disorder in children and adolescents with developmental disabilities and behavioral disorders. Second, anticonvulsant drugs, acting as they do to alter brain excitability, often have effects on behavior, emotions, and cognition. Third, the psychotropic effects of certain anticonvulsants, notably carbamazepine, valproate, and clonazepam, now are utilized in the treatment of certain psychiatric disorders such as bipolar and anxiety disorders, and this psychiatric use may well extend further in the future.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205, USA

    Richard O. Carpenter M.D.

  2. Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21287-3141, USA

    Eileen P. G. Vining M.D.

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  1. Richard O. Carpenter M.D.
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  2. Eileen P. G. Vining M.D.
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    John S. Werry M.D. (Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry) (Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry)

  2. The Nisonger Center for Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Michael G. Aman Ph.D.

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© 1993 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Carpenter, R.O., Vining, E.P.G. (1993). Antiepileptics (Anticonvulsants). In: Werry, J.S., Aman, M.G. (eds) Practitioner’s Guide to Psychoactive Drugs for Children and Adolescents. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2884-5_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-2884-5_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-306-44389-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-2884-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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