Catatonia
Catatonia means a person is awake, but does not move, talk, or react to anything but pain.[1] The person can stay stiff and still for hours. A person with catatonia may look to be in a stupor (being mentally numb and in a daze). The cause is in the nervous system; the brain and nerves. This problem was first written about in 1874 in Die Katatonie oder das Spannungsirresein.[2]
| Catatonic schizophrenia | |
|---|---|
| Classification and external resources | |
| ICD-10 | F20.2 |
| ICD-9 | 295.2 |
| MeSH | D002389 |
Causes
Catatonia can sometimes happen with mental disorders. It can be a symptom of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression. Catatonia may also happen when a person abuses drugs or overdoses by taking too much of a drug.
Catatonia can also be caused by many different medical disorders. Some causes are infections, such as encephalitis; autoimmune diseases; damage to the brain from strokes; and metabolic problems.
A person can also get catatonia from benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome, which happens if the person quickly stops taking benzodiazepine medications.[3][4][5]
Treatment
Doctors can treat catatonia. They usually start with medicines such as benzodiazepines. If those medicines do not work; doctors may use shock therapy. Antipsychotic medicines can also be used, but with safety in mind. Sometimes they can make catatonia worse or have bad side effects.[6] A group of anesthetic drugs called NMDA antagonists may be helpful when benzodiazepines don't work.[7]
References
- ↑ Fink, Max. Catatonia: A Clinician's Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment (in en) (2006-11-23)Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-03236-0.
- ↑ Dr Hans-Peter Haack. Karl Ludwig Kahlbaum. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
- ↑ Rosebush, Patricia I.. Catatonia after benzodiazepine withdrawal. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. 16 (4) (August 1996). p. 315–9. doi:10.1097/00004714-199608000-00007.
- ↑ Deuschle M, Lederbogen F. Benzodiazepine withdrawal-induced catatonia. Pharmacopsychiatry 34 (1) (January 2001). p. 41–2. doi:10.1055/s-2001-15188.
- ↑ Kanemoto K, Miyamoto T, Abe R. Ictal catatonia as a manifestation of de novo absence status epilepticus following benzodiazepine withdrawal. Seizure 8 (6) (September 1999). p. 364–6. doi:10.1053/seiz.1999.0309.
- ↑ Fink M, Taylor MA: CATATONIA: A Clinician's Guide to Diagnosis and Treatment, Cambridge U Press, 2003"
- ↑ Daniels, J.. Catatonia: clinical aspects and neurobiological correlates.. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 21 (4) (2009). p. 371–80. doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.21.4.371.