Has anyone ever come across a Parkinson's patient who is on anti-Parkinson drugs and is having psychotic breaks? If so, what kind of psych evaluation do they go through if they commit something against the law?
I remember from one of my classes learning about how L-DOPA is used to treat Parkinson's Disease. It's mechanism of action (put very simply) is that it is taken orally, crosses the blood brain barrier, and converts to dopamine to compensate for the decreased level of endogenous dopamine caused by the disease.
According to this study, L-DOPA increases the risk of the patient developing psychosis by increasing levels of both the prefrontal cortex dopamine and serum corticosterone.
I'm not sure how/if this is taken into consideration if the person commits a crime! Maybe someone else has more insight?
@Marisa H, that was a great explanation for the impact of L-DOPA and it's connection to psychosis. As for the question about an evaluation if they should commit a crime, @Affra Iftikhar, this will partly depend on their jurisdiction. In many jurisdictions (including my own), an individual can be acquitted by reason of insanity (or mental disease or defect) if their criminal responsibility was impaired at the time of the alleged offenses by involuntary intoxication/medication. In other words, if an individual is taking their medication as prescribed and is simply following doctor's orders, the negative effects of that medication should not be held against the individual if it leads to the commission of a crime. Although there are some nuances to this and how it is implemented, the short summary is that such individuals can (in many states in the US) be acquitted because it was medication-induced psychiatric impairments which impaired their criminal responsibility.
Hi Affra!
I remember from one of my classes learning about how L-DOPA is used to treat Parkinson's Disease. It's mechanism of action (put very simply) is that it is taken orally, crosses the blood brain barrier, and converts to dopamine to compensate for the decreased level of endogenous dopamine caused by the disease.
According to this study, L-DOPA increases the risk of the patient developing psychosis by increasing levels of both the prefrontal cortex dopamine and serum corticosterone.
I'm not sure how/if this is taken into consideration if the person commits a crime! Maybe someone else has more insight?
I do not have enough information about parkinson’s disease. Is it usually seen on elderly people?
Hi Affra! I've read that Parkinson's disease by itself can have many psychiatric symptoms, including anxiety, depression, even hallucinations...
I'm not sure what kind of effect the meds have. Interesting question regardless, maybe someone else can give us some answers :)