Catatonic Schizophrenia

Excerpt

Schizophrenia was divided into five subtypes, including disorganized schizophrenia, paranoid schizophrenia, residual schizophrenia, undifferentiated schizophrenia, and catatonic schizophrenia per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV). In 2013 the American Psychiatric Association (APA) combined all the subtypes under the general category of schizophrenia. "Catatonia" is a word that has undergone multiple definitions and loosely is associated with multiple psychomotor abnormalities and behavioral dysregulation.

Features of catatonia had been described since the 1800s by prominent physicians such as Kahlbaum and even Kraepelin, who defined catatonia within the larger definition of dementia praecox. There exist many suggested theories elucidating the etiology of catatonia. Kahlbaum has ultimately been credited with the understanding that symptoms such as stupor and catalepsy were part of a larger syndrome of psychomotor abnormalities, which he termed as "catatonia." This can be a part of a larger schizophrenic illness or even a bipolar affective illness or medical illness.

The advent of DSM-V has placed catatonia in its own category with schizophrenia as a specifier. Further, there are three types of catatonia that have been classified, including akinetic, hyperkinetic, and malignant catatonia.