Tardive akathisia with aripiprazole: A case report

Tardive akathisia is characterized by feelings of restlessness, discomfort, and tension causing the patient to be unable to settle down and sit still. The patient should also be taking a long term antipsychotic medication without any recent changes in dosage or type, and no withdrawal of antiakathisic drugs. Aripiprazole is a potent partial agonist that shows high affinity binding to dopamine (D2) and serotonin (5HT1a) receptors and is an antagonist at 5HT2a, 5HT2b receptors. Although there are a number of case reports about arippiprazole causing acute akathisia, only one tardive akathisia case, who was a nonpsychotic female patient, has been reported so far. In this case tardive akathisia with aripiprazole developed in a patient who had diagnoses of mental retardation and psychotic disorder not otherwise specified and who was treated by supplementary drugs without stopping aripiprazole.