Atypical antipsychotic drug Abilify might decrease impulse control, according to an Abilify gambling study.

Abilify (aripiprazole) is manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Company.

Advertisements promote Abilify as a drug that can amplify the effects of other anti-depressants and as a treatment option for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other mental illnesses.

The British Journal of Psychiatry published an Abilify gambling study that examined the behaviors of three patients.

Abilify Gambling Study Shows Correlation Between Increased Desire to Gamble and Abilify

James, age 29, started taking 5 mg of Abilify to control paranoid schizophrenia. He had a 12-year history of gambling and gambled daily.

After an initial session of Abilify, James said he quit taking it because when he was on it, he felt his gambling tendencies increased.

Upon discontinuing Abilify, James only gambled once in a four-week period.

Unfortunately, his psychotic symptoms returned. His doctor put him on 15 mg of Abilify daily, and he again had strong urges to gamble. He became so preoccupied with gambling that he even committed crimes to fund the habit.

When he told his psychiatrist, the doctor switched James to a different medication, removing Abilify from his prescribed medications. James’ desires to gamble became less intense and he no longer had constant thoughts or plans to gamble.

The Abilify gambling study looked at two other cases that shed light on the drug’s possible link to gambling behavior that is difficult to control.

Karl, age 28, has schizoaffective disorder. He claimed he would gamble on fruit machines as a teenager, and gambled on fixed odds betting terminals when he was of age.

Karl would gamble two or three times a week, spending about half of his money. After a hospital stay, a doctor switched his medication to 15 mg of Abilify a day.

The Abilify gambling study found that Karl started to gamble all of his money and that after he limited his access to money, he spent at least eight hours a day looking on the internet for free gambling sites.

Finally, his psychiatrist changed his medication and after three months of being off of Abilify, Karl no longer felt compelled to gamble non-stop, and he was playing only once a week.

In the final case of the Abilify gambling study, a 26-year-old named Steve started taking 15 mg of Abilify a day for schizophrenia. Steve had never had an inclination for gambling before he started taking Abilify.

According to the Abilify gambling study, Steve began taking Abilify in the summer of 2006, and by the summer of 2007, he was feeling a euphoric high just thinking about gambling.

Steve went into tens of thousands of dollars in debt from internet gambling. He said his urges were so strong that he could not even properly reflect upon his behavior.

When his doctor took him off Abilify, the inclination to gamble was reduced to “slight” urges that he was able to control.

Abilify Gambling Study Conclusions

The Abilify gambling study points out that previous research has linked certain Parkinson’s disease medications with a worsening of obsessive gambling. Abilify is the only FDA-approved antipsychotic that acts on the brain’s dopamine in a similar way.