Akathisia (Parkinson’s disease)

An inability to sit still, typically as an aspect of agitation or anxiety. In people with Parkinson’s disease, akathisia is relatively rare and when it does occur is often an adverse reaction to a medication used to treat the disease. Drugs commonly responsible include antipsychotics and antidepressants. The person feels and acts so excited and so “wound up” that he or she moves continually, crossing and uncrossing the legs or moving the feet as if walking in place. sometimes the person repeatedly jumps up and then sits back down. When akathisia is drug-induced, the best treatment is to reduce the medication dosage until this symptom goes away. if reducing the dose is not the best therapeutic choice, sometimes adding a benzodi-azepine medication lessens agitation enough to calm the akathisia.