Is abilify a narcotic

Answer 1

No, it is a medication that supplements the use of anti-depressants in cases where the initial anti-depressant; which presumably is doing its job to the best of its abilities, simply is not producing good enough results. I.e the patient still feels depressed.

I have read of a very small number of cases where it was prescribed (or more often obtained and taken by addicts on the verge of or in the middle of a period of withdrawal) in order that it might ease the discomfort of opiate detoxification by regulating dopamine levels.

People must remember that opioid withdrawal is not only defined by a lack of endorphins. The entire system goes haywire during this acutely painful process. Dopamine levels also fall to extremely low levels, causing; among many other things, a feeling of hopelessness and depression. Abilify just so happens to regulate dopamine and as such appears to have potential in treating the dopamine related symptoms of acute opiate withdrawal.

If you are a concerned parent, look up the medications contraindications first. What to do next is a bit of a grey area. Obtaining some level of comfort in the midst of a bout with opiate withdrawal is harder than it should be. Bureaucratic red tape keeps many people from legally obtaining safe medications that will curb the intense pain of withdrawal. Personally in such a case, if after researching it and finding it to be safe I would probably agree to allow him/her to take the dose under my supervision. However the doctor should be talked to in case any real danger exists. However, I must say that my perspective is biased having been a teen whose parents threw away pills that I really needed simply because they assumed they were narcotics. This often led to a lot of unnecessary pain that could have so simply been averted had my parents not acted so immediately in the matter without careful deliberation.

Answer 2

No.

It is an antipsychotic and mood medication.