Editorial The syndrome of motor restlessness-a treatable but under-recognised disorder The syndrome of motor restlessness, or akathisia, is a movement disorder characterised by an irresistible purpo-seless urge to move about and, in most cases, a sense of inner tension and agitation. During the attack, patients become extremely restless and are unable to sit or stand still. Rarely, akathisia is...

Akathisia is characterized by subjective discomfort and motor restlessness. The motor hyperactivity can express itself by frequent changes of posture, constant limb shaking or restless pacing. If symptoms of akathisia are severe, treatment becomes extremely complicated and patients may even become suicidal as seen in the case described here. In the literature, different forms of akathisia are d...

A rating scale for drug-induced akathisia has been derived that incorporates diagnostic criteria for pseudoakathisia, and mild, moderate, and severe akathisia. It comprises items for rating the observable, restless movements which characterise the condition, the subjective awareness of restlessness, and any distress associated with the akathisia. In addition, there is an item for rating global ...

Akathisia is reported to be one of the most common and disabling side effects of antipsychotics and other drugs. Akathisia is also a rare cause of psychomotor agitation in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI). In this clinical note, we describe a case report of akathisia in a 34-year-old woman with TBI; review earlier case studies on akathisia in TBI; and discuss the differential diagnosi...

This article reviews the epidemiological data on drug-induced acute akathisia, examining studies in which akathisia was the primary focus as well as those in which it was one of a number of drug side effects studied. The studies are diverse in methodology and suffer from many limitations. Incidence rates for acute akathisia with conventional neuroleptics vary from 8 to 76 percent, with 20 to 30...

Considerable controversy exists regarding the relationship between fluoxetine and the emergence of suicidal ideation. Three cases are presented of patients who were reexposed to fluoxetine after having previously made a serious suicide attempt during fluoxetine treatment. All three patients developed severe akathisia during retreatment with fluoxetine and stated that the development of the akat...

25 in-patients, 17 males and 8 females, were administered Barnes' Scale for drug-induced Akathisia. Akathisia was found in 7 of them, 5 males and 2 females. One had pseudoakathisia and in the other, akathisia was questionable. The inter-rater reliability, assessed by weighted Cohen's kappa, was found to be high.

Thirty patients were examined to test the hypothesis that a depletion of iron levels is associated with symptoms of akathisia. Fifteen akathisic patients were pair-matched with 15 non-akathisic patients. Plasma ferritin levels were significantly decreased in the akathisic patients, and there was a significant inverse correlation between plasma iron levels and akathisia rating. In addition, akat...

Background: Akathisia is a common adverse effect of antipsychotic drugs and is characterized by subjective feelings of restlessness. First-line treatment usually consists of propranolol, a beta adrenergic antagonist. However, propranolol does not seem to be efficacious in up to 70% of patients. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of vitamin B6 versus propranolol on antipsychotic-induced...