Tardive dyskinesia is best described as:

• A. A side effect of long-term antipsychotic use causing involuntary facial movements
• B. A mood disorder caused by psychotherapy
• C. A cognitive impairment from antidepressants
• D. A seizure disorder from anticonvulsants

Answer: (A)

Tardive dyskinesia is a late-onset movement disorder caused by long-term blockade of dopamine D2 receptors with antipsychotic medications. It typically presents with involuntary facial movements—grimacing, lip smacking, tongue protrusion—and can include choreiform or other involuntary movements of the limbs and trunk. This pattern makes it best described as a side effect of chronic antipsychotic use that produces involuntary facial movements.

It’s not a mood disorder, which would involve affective symptoms rather than these persistent motor movements. It isn’t a cognitive impairment caused by antidepressants, which would affect thinking or memory rather than producing such involuntary movements. And it isn’t a seizure disorder from anticonvulsants, which involve abnormal electrical activity with different clinical features.