The First Antipsychotic Drug More than 2,000 years ago, ancient Hindu medical texts prescribed the use of an herb derived from Rauwolfia serpentina, or snakeroot plant, to treat epilepsy, insomnia, and other ailments. But its primary use was to treat oonmaad—a Sanskrit term for an abnormal mental condition that included disruptions in “wisdom, perception, knowledge, character, creativity, conduct, and behavior” (Bhatara & others, 1997). Today it is known that the herb has a high affinity for dopamine receptors in the brain.
R Koenig/age fotstock