Research from South Korea finds an association between antipsychotic-induced reduction in heart-rate variability and subjective restlessness (akathisia).
Kim, J., Ann, J., Lee, J., Kim, M., Han, A.; Altered heart rate dynamics associated with antipsychotic-induced subjective restlessness in patients with schizophrenia. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment. Online July 18, 2013
There is nothing “subjective” about antipsychotic induced akathisia. It is a purely physical thing which drives you on against your will. No amount of relaxation or meditation can stop it. Carol North describes it beautifully in her book “Welcome Silence”.
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When I was taking Haldol, I participated in an experiment in a college statistics for psychology class. We took our resting pulse rates before and after running in place for one minute. Unlike everyone else in the class, my pulse was slower after exercise than before, 80 vs. 100. The instructors did not seem interested and neither did my eminent psychiatrist when I mentioned it to him.
When I withdrew from psych drugs, my pulse rate and response to exercise returned to normal.
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