akathisia

American  

[ak-uh-thizh-uh, -thiz-ee-uh] / ˌæk əˈθɪʒ ə, -ˈθɪz i ə /

noun

1. a state of motor restlessness, sometimes produced by neuroleptic medication, that ranges from a feeling of inner distress to an inability to sit still.

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akathisia British  

/ ˌækəˈθiːzɪə /

noun

1. the inability to sit still because of uncontrollable movement caused by reaction to drugs

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Etymology

Origin of akathisia

1900–05; < Czech akathisie < Greek a- a- ⁶ + káthis(is) “sitting” (noun derivative of kathízein “to seat, make sit, take one's seat”; kat- cat- ( def. ) + hízein “to seat,” akin to sit ¹ ) + New Latin -ia -ia

Example Sentences

A former music teacher and cellist, Beth used to take medications that left her with terrible tremors and a torturous physical restlessness called akathisia, deepening the agony of a teaching career lost to her struggles.

From New York Times • May 17, 2022

Patients who have tolerated a drug in the past may develop akathisia when they start a new course of treatment, experts say.

From New York Times • Sep. 11, 2017

The doctors warn that akathisia “can be one of the most ambiguous clinical diagnostic presentations in all of psychiatry” and is “often underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed.”

From New York Times • Sep. 11, 2017

Her eyes would roll involuntarily, and she struggled with akathisia, an overwhelming sense of restlessness that caused her to shuffle from foot to foot.

From Newsweek

Beddoe developed akathisia, which she describes "as a horrible energy that fills you with angst and dread and propels you to move about constantly."

From Time Magazine Archive