Psychomotor retardation

Causes

• Psychiatric disorders – schizophrenia, severe depression, bipolar disorder, etc.
• Psychological disorders – eating disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, etc.
• Psychiatric medicines
• Parkinson's disease

  Examples

• Unaccountable difficulty in carrying out what are usually considered "automatic" or "mundane" self-care tasks for healthy people such as taking a shower, dressing, self-grooming, cooking, brushing one's teeth and exercising.
• Physical difficulty performing activities which normally would require little thought or effort such as walking up a flight of stairs, getting out of bed, preparing meals and clearing dishes from the table, household chores or returning phone calls.
• Tasks requiring mobility suddenly may inexplicably seem to be "impossible." Activities such as shopping, getting groceries, caring for the daily needs of one's children and meeting the demands of employment or school are commonly affected.
• Activities usually requiring little mental effort can become challenging. Balancing one's checkbook, making a shopping list or making decisions about mundane tasks are often difficult.