section_path: Coping strategies/Medication therapy
section_name: Medication therapy
paragraph_text: Medication therapy
  
  Systematic reviews and meta-analyses suggest that certain psychiatric medications may be effective in controlling symptoms of anger, hostility, and irritability. These include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants like sertraline, certain anticonvulsant mood stabilizers, antipsychotics like aripiprazole, risperidone, and olanzapine, and benzodiazepines like midazolam, among others. Another meta-analysis of antidepressants and aggression found no change in aggression in adults and increased aggression in children. Psychostimulants like methylphenidate and amphetamines as well as the atypical antipsychotic risperidone are useful in reducing aggression and oppositionality in children and adolescents with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), antisocial personality disorder, and autism spectrum disorder with moderate to large effect sizes and greater effectiveness than other studied medications. Yet another meta-analysis found that methylphenidate slightly reduced irritability while amphetamines increased the risk of irritability several-fold in children with ADHD. Other research has found no impact of amphetamine or methamphetamine on aggression in humans.