Am J Psychiatry 1981; 138:1572-1576
Copyright © 1981 by American Psychiatric Association
School avoidance and social phobia triggered by haloperidol in patients with Tourette's disorder
EJ Mikkelsen, J Detlor and DJ Cohen
Fifteen patients with Tourette's disorder developed school and work
avoidance syndromes when treated with low doses (mean 2.5 mg/day) of
haloperidol for short periods of time (mean, 8 weeks). The phobic syndromes
disappeared completely with discontinuation or reduction of the haloperidol
dose. Haloperidol's effects on dopaminergic functioning support a role for
catecholamines in the pathogenesis of phobic syndromes. It is not known
whether phobias are precipitated by haloperidol only in patients with
Tourette's disorder as a consequence of the specific metabolic alterations
in this disorder or are a medication side effect in other psychiatric
disorders as well.
