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

Travelers during the upcoming Memorial Day weekend may learn a new word to save lives: Akathisia. MISSD’s latest billboard ad campaign in West Virginia straightforwardly shares akathisia info. Read the full release at https://www.einpresswire.com/article/542051121/ad-campaign-increases-awareness-of-akathisia-to-save-lives?r=paUMX7LU6yiuTyUDWt

“Many suicide prevention and mental health organizations fail to explain or even mention akathisia,” said Wendy Dolin, MISSD founder. Drug ads that end with warnings about an increased risk of suicidality also don’t mention it is related to akathisia. Such dangerous silence is unacceptable given that keeping akathisia in the dark increases the likelihood that this critical adverse drug effect is overlooked, misdiagnosed, or mistreated.”

Read more at https://www.einpresswire.com/article/541638727/mental-health-awareness-month-spotlights-akathisia?n=2

Katinka Newman, a BBC producer and author of “The Pill that Steals Lives,” has a new website aimed to help people understand and better recognize antidepressant harms including withdrawal, akathisia and serotonin toxicity. It also shares the lived experiences of those whose lives were adversely impacted by these adverse drug effects.

See https://www.antidepressantrisks.org/

Cochrane researchers found that most studies of antidepressant withdrawal “were unable to distinguish between a genuine relapse of depression and withdrawal from the tablets.”

Akathisia can be one component of post antidepressant withdrawal syndrome and consumers “might experience disturbing feelings, tell their GP they don’t feel well enough to stop the medication and get another script. This pattern can continue for years and even decades.”

“Prof van Driel said long-term usage of antidepressants should be avoided wherever possible, with the medication linked to a range of adverse consequences. Weight gain, emotional numbing, sexual dysfunction, sleep disturbance and gastrointestinal bleeding are among the side effects.”

Read more at http://hospitalhealth.com.au/content/clinical-services/news/evidence-urgently-needed-on-how-to-safely-withdraw-patients-from-antidepressants-1326306198#ixzz6ttI2s63K

The symptoms of SSRI withdrawal often mirror akathisia because withdrawal akathisia can occur when stopping SSRIs such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil. Read Med Page Today’s full article at https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/fluoxetine-withdrawal#symptoms

MISSD’s latest video features testimonials from real people whose lives were adversely impacted by akathisia. They share their lived experiences with the hope that others can be safer and better informed. Listen, learn and share at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibCOhnmM608&t=6s

MISSD is pleased to release our latest educational video to help healthcare professionals, consumers and caregivers increase their awareness of akathisia and reduce avoidable suffering and death. “Akathisia: In Their Own Words,” features firsthand experiences of people who suffered akathisia and family members who witnessed akathisia before their loved one’s death.

Please see and share our latest video to increase akathisia awareness and reduce avoidable deaths. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibCOhnmM608