Sedation in psychosis - patient interview project
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Sedation in psychosis: a grounded theory exploration of experience and impacts
IRAS ID
366953
Contact name
Sarah Reeve
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of East Anglia
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 17 days
Research summary
Almost all patients with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia are treated with antipsychotic medications. These are often effective at managing the main symptoms of delusions and hallucinations. However, antipsychotic medications have unwanted side effects, of which the most common is sedation. To date there has been extremely limited research on how patients experience and appraise sedation from antipsychotics, and its impacts. The current study proposes to interview up to twenty patients with experience of sedation about their experiences, wiht the aim of recruiting a patients with a range of backgrounds and perspectives. The interview will seek to explore how patients experience sedation and what it means for them, how it impacts on them, and identify any factors that worsen or improve sedation. Patients will be interviewed online, and interviews will be recorded, and transcribed (removing personal or identifying details), and then analysed using grounded theory to help build our understanding of how sedation relates to other issues for patients with psychosis, and how it links to recovery. The results will be used to inform a wider programme of planned research on sedation from psychosis.
REC name
London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
26/LO/0151
Date of REC Opinion
19 Feb 2026
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion