Originally Posted by Polly
Risperdal is an antipsychotic, it is a fantastic medication for people with schizophrenia who can't control themselves, and people with behaviors that are life threatening to themselves or others. On balance in those cases it can be better to substantially alter the person than to have them remain a danger. Yes it is used a lot in people who aren't a danger but there are risks. In rare cases it can have permanent side effects that simply don't go away when the medication wears off, look up tardive dyskinesia on youtube and see if you are willing to risk that to avoid this year's tantrums.

This is pretty much my point about psych meds being a naturalistic science experiment. I don't have any opinion about this particular drug, however.