like all medicines, sometimes you have to use them.
For example, a small dose of anti psychotics for delusions and paranoid symptoms from dementia
But a lot of nursing homes use them to keep the patients quiet because the staff is lazy, or the nursing home is so understaffed that the alternative (behavioral treatment) is impossible.
We grappled with this a few years ago with a loved one. He developed delusions which frightened him and made his care very difficult. He thought that shadows were rats, nursing home employees in the halls were plotting an overthrow, he was scared of the toilet . . . When the mind becomes damaged by disease, it can cause a lot of distress and pain. We resorted to psych meds, which helped calm him considerably, but also sedated him more than we thought wise. We reduced his levels somewhat, but it was all in his final weeks, and ultimately, there was no good solution. It is a cruel condition.