Akathisia Health Dictionary

An inability to sit still, occasionally occurring as a side effect of an antipsychotic drug or, less commonly, as a complication of Parkinson’s disease.

n. a pattern of involuntary movements induced by medication, for example *antipsychotic drugs or (more rarely) antidepressants. An affected person is driven to restless overactivity, which can be confused with the agitation for which the drug was originally prescribed. Akathisia is mostly felt as restless legs (see restless legs syndrome) rather than generalized agitation or anxiety. Antipsychotics are the main cause of akathisia but the severity depends on their affinity to *dopamine receptors. In a recent systematic review haloperidol, zotepine, and chlorpromazine were most likely to cause akathisia, with olanzapine least likely, and clozapine causing no akathisia at all. See also extrapyramidal effects.