Catatonia

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**Catatonia**
*Classifications and external resources*
ICD-10	F20.2
ICD-9	295.2

This is a page about catatonic state. For the band, see Catatonia (band).

Catatonia is a psychiatric syndrome that is listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. It is indicative of other conditions such as schizophrenia (catatonic type), bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and other mental disorders, as well as drug abuse and/or overdose. It bears similarity to conditions such as encephalitis lethargica and neuroleptic malignant syndrome. There are a variety of treatments available, and depending on the case, one or more drugs may be used, including antipsychotics and benzodiazepines.

Catatonia is not a mental disorder in itself; it is best thought of as a syndrome accompanying other mental disorders. There is a subtype of schizophrenia called "catatonic schizophrenia" in which the patient experiences an extreme loss of motor ability or constant hyperactive motor activity. Catatonic patients will sometimes hold rigid poses for hours and will ignore any external stimuli.

1 Types
2 Treatment
3 Catatonia in popular culture
4 External links

[edit] Types

Stupor is a motionless, apathetic state in which one is oblivious or does not react to external stimuli. Motor activity is nearly non-existent. Individuals in this state make little or no eye contact with others and may be mute and rigid.

Catatonic excitement is state of constant agitation and excitation. Individuals in this state are extremely hyperactive although the activity seems to lack purpose.

[edit] Treatment

Initial treatment is aimed at providing relief from the catatonic state. Benzodiazepines are the first line of treatment and high doses are often required. A test dose of 1-2 mg intramuscular lorazepam will often result in marked improvement within half an hour. Ultimately the underlying cause needs to be treated. Electroconvulsive therapy is an effective treatment for catatonia as well as for most of the underlying causes (e.g. psychosis, mania, depression). Antipsychotics should be used with care as they can worsen catatonia and are the cause of neuroleptic malignant syndrome a dangerous condition that can mimic catatonia and requires the immediate discontinuation of the antipsycotic.

[edit] Catatonia in popular culture

In Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1968 film, Teorema, the daughter of a bourgeois Milanese family goes into a catatonic stupor after being seduced and abandoned by a mysterious stranger.
In Dennis Potter's 1976 play, Brimstone and Treacle, the daughter of a devoutly religious middle-aged Home Counties couple becomes catatonic after surviving a hit-and-run accident.
In Penny Marshall's 1990 movie Awakenings, actor Robert De Niro plays a decade-long catatonic patient who is temporarily cured of his state by a doctor played by Robin Williams.
In Stephen King's novel The Green Mile, a villainous prison guard named Percy Wetmore is suddenly stricken with catatonia after receiving magical "black bugs" from inmate John Coffey.
In Stephen King's novel It, the wife of Bill Denbrough becomes catatonic after seeing the true form of It.
In Dean Koontz's novel Intensity, Ariel Delane falls into a catatonic state after being forced to watch the torture and murder of her six-year-old brother.
In the PC game American McGee's Alice, the main character is catatonic at the beginning of the game.
Syd Barrett, the original frontman for Pink Floyd, is said to have suffered from catatonia during several of his stage performances with the band.
In the song, "Beyond the Realms of Death", by the heavy-metal band Judas Priest, a man falls into a catatonic state and later dies.
Thrash-metal band Slayer's album Christ Illusion, features a song entitled Catatonic.
Catatonia is mentioned in the thriller Don't Say a Word starring Michael Douglas and Brittany Murphy.
In the film Analyze That (2002), Robert De Niro's character fakes a catatonic stupor in order to escape from prison.
In the 2001 film K-PAX, the character Prot falls into a catatonic stupor.
On TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", the title character falls into a catatonic stupor in the Season 5 episode "The Weight of the World", as a result of culminating tragic events.
A song named 'Catatonic' is featured on Babes In Toyland's Ep 'To Mother'
Katatonia is the name of a Swedish doom metal band.
Catatonia is the name of a pop band from UK.
On General Hospital, the character of Laura Spencer (Genie Francis) falls into a catatonic stupor after killing her stepfather, Rick Webber
In the movie "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Part 2," the beginning credits state that the lone survivor of the first movie falls into a state of catatonia after her horrific experience.
In the video game "Final Fantasy VII" and its prequel/sequels, persons affected by mako poisoning (overexposure to memories/emotions of the dead) to fall into a catatonic stupor while their minds try to recover their identity.
In an album titled "Trainwreck" by the band Boys Night Out catatonia is mentioned quite often, and is what the story of the album is based on.
In "Metalocalypse," during the episode in which Toki's parents visit, Toki becomes catatonic.
the song Octavarium (on the album of the same name) by Dream Theater is partially about a state of catatonic stupor.