A recent Psychiatric Times commentary attempts to challenge ten claims about antidepressants, including concerns about suicide risk. The authors discuss differences among antidepressants, modest average trial effects, discontinuation symptoms, and population-level suicide data.

But an essential safety issue is missing from the discussion: medication-induced akathisia. This is particularly disappointing given that September is Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month.

MISSD supports safe, informed use of prescription drugs. That means honest disclosure of potential risks, careful monitoring during medication changes, and prompt attention to new or worsening agitation, restlessness, insomnia, or suicidal thinking.

Patients and families deserve complete information. Naming akathisia can help ensure it is recognized before it is too late. Read the full article at https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/debunking-the-top-10-misleading-claims-about-antidepressants.

A large review published in The Lancet and reported by PsyPost found substantial differences among antidepressants in weight, heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and liver-enzyme changes. These effects can influence a person’s health, quality of life, and ability to stay on a medication.

Patients should also be informed about serious adverse effects, including akathisia, that are not as easy to see or measure.

Careful prescribing should begin before the first prescription is written. A clinician should review the patient’s medical history, current medications, and possible drug interactions. When appropriate, metabolism and pharmacogenetic testing can provide useful information about how a patient may process certain antidepressants. That information can help guide medication selection and dosing.

Testing is not a guarantee that a medication will work or be well tolerated. However, it is one more way to improve patient safety and prescribing practices. MISSD supports honest disclosure and careful monitoring whenever medications are started, changed, or stopped. Patients and families deserve complete information.

Read PsyPost’s coverage at: Antidepressants show wide variation in physical side effects

A new Mad in America roundup looks at research and concerns surrounding long-term antidepressant use, withdrawal, and the lack of support many people face when trying to stop.

Withdrawal symptoms may include withdrawal akathisia, and sometimes be mistaken for relapse. Medication changes can also trigger akathisia: severe inner and outer restlessness, agitation, panic, insomnia, and sudden suicidal thoughts and behaviors.

MISSD supports honest information, regular medication review, and individualized tapering support when it is needed. Read the article at: https://www.madinamerica.com/2026/09/antidepressants-limited-evidence-inadequate-information-and-little-support-to-stop/

Our first TV ad brings awareness to a wider audience—because recognizing medication-induced akathisia starts with knowing the name and the symptoms. Watch and share at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RovBJ8dNxe0.

The Lindsay Clancy trial has raised important questions about medications, adverse effects, and changes in thinking and behavior.

It’s an appropriate time to remind people that akathisia can precipitate self-harm, violence, and suicide. Yet, it is still too often missed or misunderstood. That’s our key point today, and it’s not a commentary on tragedy and specific trials.

Healthcare professionals, patients, families, and caregivers all need to know what akathisia is and how to recognize it. This 10-slide overview looks at akathisia in the context of the Clancy trial and shares information that can help close the knowledge gap.

This moving essay tells one family’s story of akathisia and related medication harm, missed warning signs, and the advocacy it took to have concerns heard.

When a patient’s condition changes after a medication is added, increased, reduced, or stopped, the possibility of an adverse drug effect must be taken seriously.

Read: “My Mother Had to Be Dying Before Anyone Would Take Her Off the Drugs”

To learn more about how polypharmacy can increase the risk of suffering akathisia, take MISSD’s free courses at MISSD.LearnUpon.com/catalog.

Our latest episode of Akathisia Stories features Lisa Acquaviva who joins MISSD to discuss cancer, recovery, drug safety, and the power of safe-patient advocacy.

After navigating metastatic colon cancer and extensive medical treatment, Lisa began seeking answers about her experience and connecting with others affected by polypharmacy, akathisia, and other medication-related adverse effects. Tune in to hear what she learned about asking questions, recognizing symptoms, and becoming an active participant in her own care.

Cael explains what thousands of others have experienced: akathisia and related adverse drug effects can disconnect a person from their own emotions, values, needs, identity, or sense of purpose. Drugs that cause emotional blunting can numb all emotions, not just feelings of sadness.

From the outside, akathisia can initially appear invisible — but the impact is very real. In this short clip, Katinka Newman, author of The Pill That Steals Lives, reflects on her terrifying journey through prescribed harm. Listen to the full episode at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_L9vbzE_c8&t=126s.

Florida’s new guidance cautions against psychotropic medications for children ages 5–17. It recommends comprehensive evaluation, psychotherapy first, and attention to sleep, screen time, nutrition, physical activity, and stressors before medication.

The full guidelines are available here: https://www.floridahealth.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/GUIDANCE-Avoidance_of_Psychotropic_Pharmacotherapy_in_Children.pdf.