The British Journal of Psychiatry 137: 469-474 (1980)
© 1980 The Royal College of Psychiatrists
Lithium therapy in aggressive mentally subnormal patients
PG Dale
In a series of fifteen aggressive mentally subnormal patients treated with
lithium carbonate, there was an improvement in aggressive behaviour in
eleven cases, three patients showed no change and one patient became worse
during lithium treatment. The response to lithium therapy was assessed by
clinical observation and retrospective analysis of daily ward reports.
Treatment had to be discontinued in one patient who developed tardive
dyskinesia, but otherwise side effects were not a problem.