May 4-10, 2025, Is Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) Awareness Week!
Tardive Dyskinesia (TD) Awareness Week, recognized May 4-10, 2025, aims to reduce stigma and empower those impacted by the condition.
TD is an involuntary movement disorder that is characterized by uncontrollable movements of the face, torso, limbs, and fingers or toes. The condition is associated with the use of antipsychotic medication that may be necessary to treat individuals living with mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder. TD is estimated to affect at least 800,000 adults in the United States. Of those living with TD, approximately 60% remain undiagnosed. Recognizing the first full week of May as TD Awareness Week helps to:
- Provide education and decrease stigma surrounding TD.
- Advocate for the need for routine screenings to help improve earlier recognition and diagnosis of TD.
- Empower the mental health community to discuss the impact of TD.
- Raise awareness of treatments for TD.
May is also Mental Health Awareness Month, an important time to acknowledge the one in five U.S. adults living with a mental illness. Approximately 259,000 adults in New Hampshire are living with a mental illness. That’s almost a quarter of the state’s entire population. And many of those individuals may experience TD.
The abnormal, involuntary, and repetitive movements of TD can negatively impact people physically, social,y and emotionally. TD can affect one’s ability to work, drive, walk, button a shirt, or eat and drink. In a recent survey, 57% of diagnosed TD patients reported their social life was extremely negatively affected, 51% reported that their mental health had been extremely negatively affected, and 45% stated that TD extremely negatively affected their ability to perform their job. People living with TD may also feel judged and ashamed, adding to a sense of worry, isolation, and stigma.
Watch the video below to hear directly from a person living with TD.
Though living with tardive dyskinesia can be challenging, it doesn’t have to define a person. Like other conditions, people with TD can live fulfilling lives with support from their community and the care they need, but only if we work to eliminate the stigma surrounding the condition and raise awareness.
And, the good news is, there are options available to treat TD. That’s why it’s so important to get routine screenings with your provider if you are taking medications that may lead to TD. However, people may not realize that they have TD or are at risk of developing TD, due to the lack of awareness surrounding the condition.
Click the images below to learn more about TD and how to talk about it.
Together, we can elevate the discussion on TD to raise awareness, reduce stigma, and empower those impacted by the condition. We encourage open conversation about TD – to learn more, visit TalkAboutTD.com