i was focusing specifically on anti-psychotics. why? because there are many many many medications in the world with very different actions and so i'm not sure how many useful generalisations there are about ALL medications or even ALL PSYCHIATRIC medications.

sedation isn't an all or none affair... ones cognitive and motor abilities can be more or less sedated. half a glass of alchohol... a glass of alchohol... a glass and a half of alchohol... two glasses of alchohol... i'm sure you get the general idea.

> Most schizophrenics that I've treated typically require a "cocktail" of meds

do they? they wouldn't be able to get through their episodes (and get back to their lives) if they had a safe place provided for them where they had caring people to talk to about what was going on for them?

many people who are labelled 'anti-psychiatrists' maintain that this is a more optimal treatment to providing sedating medication.

aren't able to control their behaviour...

that is an interesting notion. control their behaviour in what sense? so they stop reporting on hallucinatory / delusional experiences? anti-psychotics seem to be most effective with respect to curbing the positive symptoms of schizohprenia / psychosis. also help with anxiety / agitation because of their sedative effects (there is a reason anti-psychotics used to be referred to as 'minor tranqualisers). WE might feel better to curb their reports and have them calmly lying in their beds but it is unclear that ongoing sedation is the most effective theraputic intervention...

but... it is a hell of a lot cheaper to provide drugs than to provide ongoing caring social supports.

with respect to the genetic basis of schizophrenia. if one is an identical twin then one is genetically identical to ones twin. if ones twin has schiozphrenia then it is more likely than not that one will not have schizophrenia. there is only something like 48% concordance for identical twins with respect to schizophrenia. this undermines the claim that schziohprenia is genetically determined. the environment is doing most of the work.