Symptoms
Catatonia can happen with many conditions, ranging from mental health disorders to medical conditions. It’s usually not acutely life-threatening, though there’s potential for serious complications and progression to malignant catatonia, which is a life-threatening emergency.
Causes
Any general medical patient who displays obvious symptoms may be catatonic. The link between catatonia due to or associated with general medical conditions is unclear and the condition often goes unrecognized, but when identified, responds to standard catatonia treatments.
Complications
The presence of catatonia should alert the clinician to the possibility of an underlying medical disorder and should be thoroughly investigated. Treatment of catatonia is reviewed in more detail …
Is catatonia life-threatening?
Catatonia happens unpredictably and for reasons that experts still don’t fully understand, so it isn’t possible to prevent it or reduce your risk of it happening. If you have a mental health condition for which you’re prescribed medication, your risk of catatonia may increase if you stop taking your medications.
Who is catatonic?
Should the presence of catatonia be investigated as a symptom of disease?
Can catatonia be prevented?
Can catatonia lead to death?
INTRODUCTION. Although catatonia can occur secondary to a general medical condition, catatonia itself has been known to lead to various medical complications and even death.
What is severe catatonia?
Catatonia is a severe motor syndrome with an estimated prevalence among psychiatric inpatients of about 10%. At times, it is life-threatening especially in its malignant form when complicated by fever and autonomic disturbances. Catatonia can accompany many different psychiatric illnesses and somatic diseases.
What happens if catatonia goes untreated?
If catatonia is left unrecognized and untreated it becomes chronic, and patients may die from complications of malnutrition, immobility, and/or dangerous behavior. The DSM-IV does recognize that catatonia is frequently associated with medical illnesses and carries a significant morbidity and mortality.
How long can you stay in catatonic state?
The most common symptom is stupor, which means that the person can't move, speak, or respond to stimuli. However, some people with catatonia may exhibit excessive movement and agitated behavior. Catatonia can last anywhere from a few hours to weeks, months, or years.
What happens to the brain in catatonia?
Catatonia is often associated with brain imaging abnormalities (in more than 75% of cases). The majority of the case reports show diffuse lesions of white matter, in a wide range of brain regions. Most of the case reports of functional imaging usually show frontal, temporal, or basal ganglia hypoperfusion.
Are catatonic patients aware?
Patients are fully aware and visual tracking is preserved. Overt signs of catatonia such as negativism and echophenomena may differentiate the two disorders, but more subtle presentations can make the two conditions difficult to distinguish[39].
How do you get someone out of catatonic state?
Doctors usually treat catatonia with a kind of sedative called a benzodiazepine that's often used to ease anxiety. Another treatment option is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). It sends electrical impulses to the person's brain through electrodes placed on their head.
What causes a person to go into a catatonic state?
Catatonia is a syndrome of other underlying mood disorders, but it can also be caused by other factors, including other infections or taking prescribed or illegal drugs. Someone affected by catatonia may not be able to move, or may seem ”stuck” in an odd, awkward posture.
What causes catatonic behavior?
The causes of catatonic disorders vary from person to person, but researchers believe irregularities in the dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and glutamate neurotransmitter systems are the primary cause. It isn't unusual for catatonia to be accompanied by other neurological, psychiatric, or physical conditions.
Does catatonia come on suddenly?
Catatonia activity levels While most people think of catatonia as a disorder that involves moving very little or not at all, that's not always the case. Catatonia can also involve sudden and unpredictable behavior changes, including excessive or even constant movement.
How do you help a catatonic episode?
It's best not to try and move them too much, unless they're in a position which might be dangerous to them, but it can be comforting to put an arm around them or hold their hand.
What does it mean when a person is catatonic?
Catatonia is a disorder that disrupts a person's awareness of the world around them. People with this condition sometimes react very little or not at all to their surroundings, or might behave in ways that are unusual, unexpected or unsafe to themselves or others.
What causes a person to become catatonic?
Doctors aren't sure exactly what makes someone become catatonic. It happens most often with people who have mood disorders or psychotic disorders, like depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. About a third of people who are catatonic also have bipolar disorder.
What does being catatonic feel like?
The most common symptoms associated with catatonia are mutism (not speaking) and stupor (the state of being in a daze). A feeling of anxiety or restlessness. A person with catatonic depression will probably also experience classic depression symptoms, such as feeling low or sad.
What is an example of catatonic?
Characteristics of Catatonic Behavior In addition to a lack of mobility, erratic and extreme movement is possible in catatonic behavior. For example, a person might pace in a repeated pattern and make loud exclamations for no reason at all (i.e., not in response to an environmental stimulus or event).
What are the different types of catatonia?
Catatonia is sometimes categorized into three types. Akinetic Catatonia (also called retarded catatonia) involves a lack of movement and responsi...
What is the history of catatonia?
Catatonia was previously considered a subtype of schizophrenia. Therefore patients diagnosed with catatonia were also diagnosed with schizophrenia....
How common is catatonia?
Although prevalence estimates vary, research suggests that catatonia occurs in 9 to 17 percent of patients with acute psychiatric illnesses, such...
What are the risk factors associated with catatonia?
Catatonia typically occurs in the context of other mental disorders and medical conditions. Therefore, disorders including developmental disorders,...
How many symptoms are there for catatonia?
According to the DSM-5, at least three out of twelve symptoms must be present for a diagnosis of catatonia. These symptoms include: Stupor (oblivious inability to move or respond to stimuli), catalepsy (rigid body posture) Mutism (little to no verbal communication)
What causes catatonia?
Catatonia is generally associated with, or due to, other medical conditions, especially brain disorders such as neurodegenerative disease and encephalitis. A severe vitamin B12 deficiency, infection, exposure to toxins, or conditions such as schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, autism, extreme trauma, and mood disorders are associated with catatonia. Catatonia can also be idiopathic, arising from an unknown cause. Any general medical patient who displays obvious symptoms may be catatonic. The link between catatonia due to or associated with general medical conditions is unclear and the condition often goes unrecognized, but when identified, responds to standard catatonia treatments.
Does catatonia cause long periods of stupor?
When catatonia is associated with schizophrenia, stupor may continue for long periods of time as compared to schizophrenia associated with other psychiatric conditions, where there are likely to be long remissions. article continues after advertisement.
Can a catatonic patient be a general patient?
Any general medical patient who displays obvious symptoms may be catatonic. The link between catatonia due to or associated with general medical conditions is unclear and the condition often goes unrecognized, but when identified, responds to standard catatonia treatments.
Is catatonia a psychotic disorder?
Although often associated with schizophrenia and other affective disorders, catatonia may be a result of, or due to, any number of psychotic disorders, mood disorder s or general medical conditions.
Abstract
Fatal catatonia is considered a complication to the usual schizophrenic course. The syndrome may occur in cases of apparent health or show itself as an exacerbation during any form of schizophrenia.
Access content
To read the fulltext, please use one of the options below to sign in or purchase access.
Not a subscriber?
PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5 library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.
What is catatonia in autism?
Catatonia is a behavioral syndrome marked by an inability to move normally, and can occur in patients with underlying psychiatric (eg, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorders, psychotic disorders, and unipolar major depression) and general medical disorders. The syndrome is marked by heterogeneous signs that are observed or elicited ( table 1 and table 2 ); the most common are immobility, rigidity, mutism, posturing, excessive motor activity, stupor, negativism, staring, and echolalia [ 1-3 ].
Is catatonia a behavioral disorder?
Catatonia is a behavioral syndrome marked by an inability to move normally, which can occur in the context of many psychiatric and general medical disorders [ 1 ]. Prompt treatment of catatonia with benzodiazepines or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as well as treatment of the underlying cause, generally leads to remission of catatonia. However, failure to recognize and properly treat catatonia can lead to poor outcomes; malignant catatonia in particular can be fatal.
Is ziprasidone used for catatonia?
Angelopoulos EK, Corcondilas M, Kollias CT, et al. A case of catatonia successfully treated with ziprasidone, in a patient with DSM-IV delusional disorder. J Clin Psychopharmacol 2010; 30:745.