Catatonia in Wikipedia

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Catatonia". (Source - Retrieved 2006-09-07 14:23:56 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catatonia)

Introduction

Catatonia is a psychiatric symptom 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 a symptom of 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.

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) and often violent towards themselves or others.

Treatment

As catatonia is a symptom of an underlying disorder, treatment is generally aimed at the underlying cause. A wide variety of drugs can be used to treat catatonia, depending on the type (i.e. excitement or stupor). The usual treatment is to prescribe first-line antipsychotics (such as risperdal and haloperidol), although benzodiazepines are occasionally used (for catatonic excitement more commonly than for catatonic stupor).

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 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 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.