Antipsychotic drugs which can have different modes of action but which tend to be more likely than second generation antipsychotics to cause extrapyramidal motor control disabilities such as body rigidity or Parkinson's disease-type movements; such body movements can become permanent even after treatment has ceased.
Normally administered as the benzenesulfonic acid (besylate) salt, the use of mesoridazine, a phenothiazine antipsychotic with effects similar to chlorpromazine, is now restricted to the treatment of cases of schizophrenia in which other antipsychotics have produced an inadequate response. Its use in other psychiatric disorders was abandoned after results suggested an unacceptable balance of benefits and risks due to cardiotoxic potential.