Citation

Pratap A, Akhtar S, Sinha P, Bakhla AK. Ind. Psychiatry J. 2019; 28(2): 315-317.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Association of Industrial Psychiatry of India)

DOI

10.4103/ipj.ipj_72_15

PMID

33223729 PMCID

Abstract

Akathisia, a distressing adverse reaction, is usually underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed in patients, who are treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Escitalopram-induced akathisia is rarely reported in the literature. We report a case of severe akathisia leading to a suicide attempt in a 25-year-old male induced by 5 mg of escitalopram, that remitted completely after discontinuation of escitalopram and did not reappear later. Patient and their caretakers should be warned of symptoms of akathisia even when a very low dose of SSRI is prescribed.

Language: en

Keywords

Akathisia; escitalopram; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; suicide-attempt