Although phenothiazine drugs have been employed in the treatment of schizophrenia for approximately ten years, we are still uncertain of the best method of using these agents. Whilst the indications to start phenothiazine medication may readily be agreed, the point at which to terminate such therapy remains debatable. Some psychiatrists stop the drug before the patient is discharged from hospital, some at discharge, some shortly after, but an increasing number recommend the schizophrenic patient never to stop taking his phenothiazine. On the other hand, the national drug bill has reached such proportions that some hospitals are now cutting down the administration of phenothiazines, and continue them only in those patients whose improvement is marked and clearly related to the drug.