7 Ways to Treat Tardive Dyskinesia

When the second-generation antipsychotics were first released in the 1990s there was optimism that these agents might eliminate-or even treat-tardive dyskinesia (TD). They were, after all, derived from clozapine, which remains the antipsychotic with the lowest risk of TD. That hope has not stood the test of time. Judging from a recent meta-analysis, you can expect that 1 in 4 patients will develop TD after 10 years on a second-generation antipsychotic.^† That’s lower than the rate with first-generation antipsychotics, which is 1 in 2, but is still concerning.¹ There are ways to lower the risk of TD and treat it when it comes up, and I will review them here.

^†Based on an annualized incidence of 2.6% for second-generation and 6.5% for first-generation antipsychotics¹