“I was begging for help; They just gave me more drugs. I was told that I would have to be on it (Zoloft) for life.” -Stacey, prescribed sertraline at age 18.
Listen to the full podcast at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqyVXZZW-aE&t=8s.
A recent Psychiatric Times article on medications and suicide prevention, featuring AFSP’s Chief Medical Officer, fails to mention akathisia. Given that akathisia is associated with self-harm, violence, and suicide, and is often made worse due to misdiagnoses and polypharmacy, akathisia should be a part of suicide prevention. Comprehensive suicide prevention must include clear information about akathisia, informed consent, and the need for close monitoring.
AFSP describes its research funding as “private donations,” including support from pharma‑linked foundations and partners, and has disclosed institutional grants from companies such as Otsuka and Pfizer. When suicide‑prevention messaging is partly funded by industry, omitting akathisia undermines fully informed, patient‑centered care. The Psychiatric Times’ opinion piece is here: https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/effective-psychiatric-medication-use-suicide-prevention-a-conversation-with-christine-yu-moutier-md.
New SSRI prescribing guidelines mark an important step forward. Emphasis on safer tapering, informed consent, whole-person care, and regular review reflects what patients and families have reported for years.
Greater awareness of akathisia—a medication-induced state of intense inner restlessness linked to suicidality—is critical for prevention and early intervention.
A recent review of ketamine trials suggests that the drug showed rapid reductions in suicidal and depressive symptoms in some patients. What the report also highlights, however, are key limitations in clinical trials, including small study sizes, challenges with blinding, potential expectancy bias, and limited long-term safety data.
These issues extend beyond ketamine and reflect broader challenges in psychiatric drug research. The important question remains:
Are medication-induced conditions such as akathisia being consistently and clearly assessed in clinical trials?
MISSD calls for greater transparency and accuracy in clinical drug trials, including clearer adverse-event reporting and improved clinician education. Understanding these distinctions is essential to patient safety.
Stacey’s experience is one we hear far too often.
In this episode of Akathisia Stories, she shares how medication-induced akathisia was repeatedly misdiagnosed—leading to additional prescriptions that worsened her symptoms. Stacey’s story and petition highlight why clearer drug warnings and accurate risk info are essential.
▶️ Listen to the full episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqyVXZZW-aE&t=8s
📣 Take action: Sign the Change.org petition calling for clearer warnings on medications known to cause akathisia: https://tinyurl.com/ack95w3
🎓 Learn with MISSD’s free akathisia courses: https://missd.learnupon.com/catalo
Recent media attention has brought renewed focus to akathisia. Today our press release calls for clearer drug risk disclosure and greater clinical awareness to improve patient safety and prevent avoidable harm.
We’ve also release episode 6 of the Akathisia Stories podcast featuring Stacey Haza. Haza is an akathisia survivor and safe-patient advocate who currently has a petition on Change.org seeking improved risk labeling on medications associated with akathisia.
“In the prescribed harm community, one of the things you hear over and over is, ‘I wish someone had told me—I wish I had known,’” said Haza.
👉 Listen to the full interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqyVXZZW-aE&t=8s
👉 Read the press release: https://www.einpresswire.com/article/909351769/missd-urges-clearer-akathisia-warnings-and-clinician-education