Introduction Patients’ cooperation, especially in medication taking, constitutes a significant challenge psychiatric care. Psychiatric patients are often reluctant to take specific pharmacological treatment because of side effects. Akathisia and other extra pyramidal symptoms effects that could result into real danger thought be the main reasons discontinuing treatment. Despite this, some gaps ...

Two psychiatric patients developed moderate or severe oro-facial dyskinesia, and limb dyskinesia, at a relatively young age and within a year of starting antipsychotic drug-treatment. This early appearance of tardive dyskinesia was preceded by akathisia that had developed at the beginning of drug therapy and persisted, despite the reduction of their drug doses to maintenance levels. The possibi...

Akathisia is a common side-effect of the neuroleptic drugs and occurs in about 5% to 75% cases treated with these compounds (Barnes et al., 1985; Van Putten et at., 1984). In addition, akathisia like syndromes are produced with conditions such as uremia, idiopathic restless legs syndrome, congestive heart failure, idiopathic parkinsonism, and with drugs such as reserpine, .trycyclic antidepress...

There has been increasing recognition that the second-generation antipsychotic drugs can produce extrapyramidal side effects. This case reports the development of severe akathisia in a patient being treated with ziprasidone for bipolar depression. The case illustrates that this symptom can be easily mistaken for worsening agitated depression. Akathisia may produce considerable distress and elev...

Thirty acute psychiatric patients were examined prospectively at the beginning of neuroleptic treatment for acute psychotic symptoms and on average 16 days later. Two alternative hypotheses were examined: 1) neuroleptic treatment affects the levels of serum iron and transferrin; 2) acute akathisia developing during the initial few weeks of treatment is associated with low levels of serum iron a...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of persistent drug-induced movement disorders namely, tardive dyskinesia (TD), parkinsonism, akathisia and tardive dystonia in a representative sample of long-stay patients with chronic severe mental illness. METHOD Naturalistic study of 209, mainly white, antipsychotic-treated patients, mostly diagnosed with psychotic disorder. ...