The risk of suffering SSRI-induced akathisia is increased when a person has previously suffered akathisia. Yet many prescribers remain unaware that giving out another SSRI brand can produce the same adverse outcome.

“He had suffered a bad reaction to Fluoxetine in 2011, an antidepressant that is in the same family as sertraline.”

Listen to Stephen’s story on our akathisia podcast at https://www.studiocchicago.com/akathisia-stories

Read the full article at https://www.belfastlive.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/co-tyrone-familys-plea-after-21173837

The drug, sertraline, goes by different brand names depending upon where you live. But whether it’s called Zoloft or Lustral the serious psychiatric “side” effects it poses are the same. In our latest episode of Akathisia Stories, Colleen Bell discusses her late Uncle Stephen’s fatal reaction to sertraline and the her family’s organization, Stephen’s Voice, that works to ensure others are safer and better informed.

Listen at https://www.studiocchicago.com/akathisia-stories

Stephen O’Neill died an akathisia-induced death despite that he informed his prescribers that the product they gave him, Zoloft, was creating suicidal thoughts–thoughts he never experienced prior to prescription.

After Stephen died in Ireland, his family started Stephen’s Voice to help others be safer. Today is the first Prescribed Harm Awareness Day, sponsored by Stephen’s Voice. Regardless of where you live in the world, one thing is certain: nobody is immune to akathisia and other serious adverse drug effects.

Read Stephen’s story at https://davidhealy.org/the-death-of-stephen-oneill-and-you/ and visit Stephen’s Voice on Facebook.

When discontinuing certain prescription drugs, akathisia and other withdrawal symptoms can be serious and long lasting. Some doctors are still unaware of these serious adverse effects that can occur when stopping pharmaceutical products marketed as antidepressants.

A current survey aims to collect relevant data and publish a paper to inform UK doctors and other health care professionals about the process of coming off these drugs. The paper will be available internationally and may also help inform health care professionals around the world. 

Please consider taking and sharing this survey regardless of where you live: https://uelpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0AR9IsQ61jsiXBk

Williams was misdiagnosed and prescribed drugs that can cause medication-induced suicide. His son, Zak, said his dad was “very uncomfortable,” had focus issues, and “from a neurological perspective he didn’t feel great.”

Read the full article at https://people.com/health/robin-williams-son-zak-says-his-dad-was-very-uncomfortable-and-frustrated-misdiagnosis/

The award-winning documentary, “Medicating Normal,” will feature a Facebook live interview with MISSD Founder, Wendy Dolin, this Thursday at 2 EDT. Please join us and share the event link to help reduce medical harms: https://www.facebook.com/events/528657741590165/

A commonly prescribed acne drug is linked to suicidality and sexual dysfunction–two adverse effects that can last long after the drug is stopped.

Read the full article at https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-6431453/Thousands-prescribed-Roaccutane-theres-disturbing-evidence-leave-men-suicidal.html

When eight-year-old Jake was wrongly prescribed drugs marketed as antidepressants, his parents say they noticed scary changes in his behavior and feared for his life. Children, who are at high risk for SSRI-induced akathisia, are covered by the FDA’s black box suicidality warning yet many parents are never informed.

“That was when things got infinitely worse,” Jake’s father, Ray Diaz, said. “Jake was trying to physically harm himself. Jake was trying to jump out of moving cars. We were at Radio City Music Hall for the Christmas Spectacular, and we got out of there and he just took off and sprinted away from us in the middle of Manhattan.”

Read the full story at https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/rochester/exploring-your-health/2021/06/15/explosion-in-the-tick-population-draws-attention-to-rare-lyme-disease-symptoms-in-children

Polypharmacy “refers to an increasing overload of drugs that may not benefit the patient or interact well with one another, and that may cause harm including falls, cognitive impairment, hospitalization and death. It has sparked interest in “deprescribing”: the practice in which doctors and patients regularly review medication regimens to prune away risky or unnecessary drugs.

For older patients, the most commonly prescribed inappropriate medicines include proton pump inhibitors like Nexium and Prilosec, benzodiazepines like Xanax and Ativan, and tricyclic antidepressants, according to an analysis of Medicare data published last year.”

Benzodiazepines and drugs marketed as antidepressants increase the risk of suffering from akathisia. Read the full article at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/07/health/elderly-drugs-deprescribing.html?action=click&module=Science%20%20Technology&pgtype=Homepage

MISSD’s new akathisia billboards in Illinois and West Virginia are being met with positive feedback and our public health videos have now had more than 280K views.

“I saw your ad in Chicago today. I was driving here from Minnesota. I almost didn’t survive akathisia. Upon seeing the ad, I was so happy and started crying at the same time. Thank you for all your work. I definitely will be donating.”

See and share to save lives: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibCOhnmM608