Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun medicine a sensation of restlessness characterized by an inability to sit still or remain motionless, often as a side effect of psychiatric medications

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

from ancient Greek α (a), [without, not] + κάθισις (káthisis), [sitting]

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Examples

  • According to Glenn, "She then started having strong suicidal ideations, along with severe agitation known as akathisia and hallucinations, and she was put in the adolescent ward of a mental hospital to balance her meds."

    SSRIs - Wonder Drugs From Hell 2006

  • He has testified previously about a specific side effect of SSRIs called akathisia, that he and many other experts say, can make some patients so agitated that they feel death would be a welcome relief.

    SSRI Experts Head to Washington to Testify Before FDA Panel 2006

  • They put me on a drug called ‘risperidone’ and so began a side-effect called 'akathisia'.

    Catholicmomof10militant Catholic Mom of 10 2009

  • He can rattle off a long list of antipsychotic medications he's been on over the years, plus the ones given to overcome the side effects-such as akathisia-of the antipsychotic drugs.

    Everything2 New Writeups 2010

  • Jack Henry Abbott wrote these words in prison, to describe a side effect of antipsychotic medication called "akathisia".

    Everything2 New Writeups 2010

  • Seven years before Dr Healy wrote this commentary, in a Prozac case for which he served as an expert witness, the plaintiff's legal team learned that Eli Lilly had withheld evidence in a jury trial when the May 7, 2007 Boston Globe reported that Lilly had agreed to pay $20 million for the rights to a patent on a new version of Prozac that would reduce "akathisia," the very side effect long believed to increase the risk of suicidal behavior, three months before the trial began.

    SEROXAT SUFFERERS - STAND UP AND BE COUNTED 2009

  •  Several steps may reduce akathisia, which in addition to restlessness can include agitation, tension, and uncontrollable movements of the arms or legs.

    Q&A: Easing the discomfort of akathisia? 2009

  • To ease symptoms, your doctor might change the drug or dose, or add another drug to help counteract akathisia, such as a beta-blocker or a benzodiazepine like clonazepam (Klonopin and generic). metoclopramideprochlorperazine

    Q&A: Easing the discomfort of akathisia? 2009

  • I have akathisia (feelings of restlessness) from an antinausea drug.

    Q&A: Easing the discomfort of akathisia? 2009

  • In two studies sponsored by the manufacturer, 25 percent of patients who added Abilify to their antidepressant drug experienced akathisia (inner restlessness and urge to move around), compared to 4 percent of patients taking an antidepressant plus a placebo.

    AdWatch: Abilify finds lucrative new audience 2009

Comments

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  • An inability to sit down because of intense anxiety.

    May 11, 2008

  • Karin sat on the lip of the purple hotel chair, her leg pumping. Postural hypotension and akathisia: two of olanzapine's side effects. Sympathetic suffering in advance.

    --Richard Powers, 2007, The Echo Maker, p. 313

    November 7, 2008