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Complete Resolution of Catatonia Following a Single Intravenous Lorazepam Challenge Test: An Early Intervention in Psychosis Case Report

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Catatonia is defined as a 'syndrome of primarily psychomotor disturbances, characterized by the co-occurrence of several symptoms of decreased, increased, or abnormal psychomotor activity'.1 It can be divided into two subtypes: features associated with decreased activity including immobility, staring (fixed gaze and decreased blinking), mutism (no or very little verbal response), rigidity, not eating or drinking and other such as waxy flexibility, ambitendency, and negativism; and features associated with increased activity (excitement) with severe psychomotor agitation including non-purposeful movement and or uncontrollable and extreme emotional responses.1,2 Catatonia can occur in a variety of conditions, including psychiatric such as mood and non-affective psychotic disorders, medical and neurological disorders, substance and medication related (drug intoxication and withdrawal) and neurodevelopmental and genetic disorders with special note in ICD-11 of Autistic spectrum disorder (ASD).[1][2][3][4][5] Complications of untreated catatonia can be lifethreatening, including cardiac, thrombolytic, pulmonary and renal (dehydration and renal failure).6,7 Catatonia is a clinical diagnosis that can vary in presentation and is often underdiagnosed (in psychiatric and medical settings), with an overall mean prevalence of 9%.[8][9][10] In acute psychiatric inpatient settings, the prevalence has been reported to be 5-18%, and 12% in drug-naïve first episode psychosis patients, and little is

Source: Psychopharmacology Bulletin

DOI: 10.64719/pb.4514