Here is the truth about anti-psychotics for schizophrenia:

1/3 of people with schizophrenia will respond very well to anti-psychotics (lead a fully functional life with minimal or no relapses)

1/3 of people with schizophrenia will respond moderately well to anti-psychotics (they will be functional for stretches of time, but relapse periodically...this is called a 'relapse-remitting' disease course)

1/3 of people with schizophrenia will be chronic non-responders to anti-psychotics (never really able to hold down a job and support themselves)

Now, I'm not sure if you have schizophrenia or some other kind of psychotic disorder, so that changes things a bit. Also, the response rate depends on what kinds of psychotic symptoms you have. The general rule of thumb is that 'positive' symptoms (hallucinations, delusions) tend to respond very well to anti-psychotics, whereas 'negative' symptoms (flat affect, anhedonia, low mood, lack of motivation, social isolation, poverty of speech) generally don't respond well to anti-psychotics.

Also, keep in mind, you have only tried ONE anti-psychotic. There are plenty more anti-psychotics out there for you to try. Don't throw in the towel now!

But, 39 days is an awfully long time to wait to see if an anti-psychotic is working for you. Anti-psychotics generally start working within a few days. You should know by the end of a week or so (maybe two weeks) if it's going to work for your psychosis or not. 39 days is really excessive. Talk to your psychiatrist about this, but if she is ultimately unwilling to budge, you may need to look for a different psychiatrist who is more pro-active about finding a medication that works for you.

I don't know if that gave you hope. Looking back over my post, it didn't really paint the most hopeful picture, did it? hah.

If you want me to give you a better idea of the chance that your psychosis will respond to meds, I need you to answer some questions:

1. What is your diagnosis exactly? What kind of psychotic disorder do you have?
2. What are your symptoms? Do you have only positive symptoms or also negative symptoms?
3. How old are you? Are you male or female?
4. How long have you been having psychotic symptoms for?
5. What dose of risperdal were you taking?
6. Did the risperdal help *at all* with your symptoms? Why do you say it didn't work? What symptoms did you continue having while on the risperdal, and how severe?