Yesterday, Memorial Day, recognized veterans & service to country.
Today our latest public health video recognizes the challenges many veterans face when seeking therapeutic care but are instead harmed by misguided prescribing and akathisia.
Our recent ad in Psychotherapy Networker reaches thousands of clinicians to further akathisia awareness. Akathisia 101 is open to ALL and offers 1 CME. Take the course at MISSD.LearnUpon.com.
Akathisia, anxiety, and suicidality induced by weight-loss drug, Ozempic? Psychiatric adverse effects are being reported by people taking Ozempic. One woman who tried to strangle herself had “hypomanic-type symptoms,” said Dr. Shahan Syed, of Bergen New Bridge Medical Center. “That resulted in [what] could be akathisia, could be restlessness, but subsequently anxiety is the biggest factor that tips us over the edge doing something impulsive, which this patient particularly did.”
Suicide prevention programs that don’t ask about prescription drugs are turning a blind eye to iatrogenic harm and death. This excellent article shows how akathisia can be caused by one supposedly “harmless” prescription and then lead to years of a harmful prescribing cascade, misdiagnoses, and avoidable harm.
A recent RxISK.org article explores treatment-induced Persistent Postural Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD). Improving our understanding of PPPD, which is associated with SSRIs, “may shed light on akathisia, a lethal ‘emotional’ effect” associated with SSRIs. In many cases dizziness coincided with suicidal agitation.”
If you think you might have PPPD, submit a report at RxISK.org to increase our understanding of PPPD and akathisia. For more information about PPPD, see https://rxisk.org/balancing-our-bodies-and-our-selves/ and the associated links included in the article.
Beth was prescribed Cipralex during a difficult time in her life but took it for over 4 years without any doctor reviewing the continued need. Soon she suffered akathisia and said she “started developing severe panic attacks, worsening anxiety and depression. I was also extremely emotionally numb and had no fear response.” Her doctors responded by increasing the drug dose which increased the severity of akathisia. Read more at https://www.antidepressantrisks.org/stolen-lives/bethany.
Wendy Dolin, Linda Stern and Kristina Kaiser (pictured from left) present akathisia information at the Washington, DC Psychotherapy Networker Symposium.
MISSD is pleased to reach thousands of clinicians attending the annual Psychotherapy Networker Conference. Akathisia awareness is on the rise given that many attendees had some familiarity with the term compared to previous years when few had ever heard of this critical medication-induced disorder.
Katinka Newman, author of the “Pill that Steals Lives” has an excellent website, Antidepressantrisks.org, that provides general info and resources. There is also a “Stolen Lives” section where people can share their own stories of prescribed harm. Relatives of those who died antidepressant-induced deaths can also post stories. We can learn much from the lived experiences of others.
“Failing to de-prescribe a benzodiazepine like Klonopin or Ativan can be harmful because these drugs can have adverse, though reversible, cognitive effects, like impaired memory and focus. They can also slow reflexes and increase the risk of falling, which is potentially hazardous for older people,” said psychiatrist, Dr. Friedman, in a recent Washington Post article about stopping psychiatric drugs.
