Anxiety Medications and Behavior

Question: My child is an adult and has to be walking, moving constantly! It’s hard for her to sit and relax. As a parent, this is very hard to watch. My opinion is that the results of all the medications we have tried over several years for her anxiety were recommended by her doctors. The medicines, at times, made her anxiety worse! If there is anything we could do or not do to help with this behavior, it would be like a miracle. She did not have this behavior when she was younger. It started as she got older! I’ve only witnessed this once at a get-together with other parents whose children had this syndrome when my daughter was very young (she didn’t have this behavior at the time). I remember thinking how hard that would be for both the child and the parent. If you have any advice that might help her, we would appreciate it, regardless of her age. Thank you.

Answer: If this was not happening before the risperidone, it definitely could be akathisia. Something to look out for is not being able to sit down for any period of time. The only way to know is to decrease the dose and note if it decreases.

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