If you seriously think it would be easy to make an effective antipsychotic or other medication with fewer or no side effects, then found a company and go for it! If you have a better idea and the right team, getting investors is pretty straightforward.

I can guarantee that "big pharma" is not up to something nefarious. If there were a single company or organization in charge of discovering and selling medications, that theory might hold some water.

The reality is there are hundreds of companies and tens of thousands of researchers out there looking for that holy grail of an effective medication with zero side effects. In a free market economy where the upside is an enormous amount of sales revenue, of course everyone is searching for the next big thing.

If you look at the advances in psychoactive medications over the last 50-60 years, the theory of "trying to make you sicker" is totally debunked. Back in the 50's, all they had for AP was Thorazine and Haldol. The nasty side effects of those are well known; the "Thorazine shuffle" and Haldol's EPS are very well documented. Today's doses of Haldol are baby doses compared to what used to be used, and the EPS issue is largely resolved by small doses and Cogentin if need be.

Today we have the latest APs; Latuda and Vrylar (sp?) being two of them. These two atypicals have exponentially fewer and less severe side effects than the old ones. Even Seroquel and Zyprexa are getting old in this space; and they have their own issues. Then consider mood stabilizers like Lamictal compared to Lithium and Depakote.

The pharmaceutical industry is far from perfect, but don't demonize it because you've failed to find the perfect treatment. I've been in the industry for 20 years, and I guarantee you that every day hundreds of thousands of people like me are working to make patients' lives better.