Features
Tardive dyskinesia is characterized by repetitive, involuntary, purposeless movements. Some examples of these types of involuntary movements include grimacing, tongue protrusion, lip smacking, puckering and pursing of the lips, and rapid eye blinking. Rapid, involuntary movements of the limbs, torso, and fingers may also occur. In some cases, an individual's legs can be so affected that walking becomes difficult or impossible. These symptoms are the opposite of patients who are diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. Parkinson's patients have difficulty moving, whereas tardive dyskinesia patients have difficulty not moving.
Respiratory irregularity, such as grunting and difficulty breathing, is another symptom associated with tardive dyskinesia, although studies have shown that the prevalence rate is relatively low.
Tardive dyskinesia is often misdiagnosed as a mental illness rather than a neurological disorder, and as a result patients are prescribed neuroleptic drugs, which enhance the probability that the patient will develop a severe and disabling case, and may even experience a shorter survival period.
Other closely related neurological disorders have been recognized as variants of tardive dyskinesia. Tardive dystonia is similar to standard dystonia but permanent. Tardive akathisia involves painful feelings of inner tension and anxiety and a compulsive drive to move the body. In some extreme cases, afflicted individuals experience so much internal torture that they lose their ability to sit still. Tardive tourettism is a tic disorder featuring the same symptoms as Tourette Syndrome. The two disorders are extremely close in nature and oftentimes can only be differentiated by the details of their respective onsets. Tardive myoclonus, a rare disorder, presents as brief jerks of muscles in the face, neck, trunk, and extremities.
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