Definition

Noun: 1. A state of neurogenic motor immobility and behavioral abnormality: A psychological condition marked by a lack of movement, communication, and responsiveness to the environment, often seen in certain mental disorders. 2. Muscular rigidity and stupor: A symptom involving extreme muscle stiffness and a trance-like state of unresponsiveness.

Usage and Examples

• Clinical/Psychiatric Context:
  • The patient was diagnosed with schizophrenia and exhibited severe catatonia, remaining motionless for hours.
  • One of the symptoms observed was catatonia, characterized by muscular rigidity and mutism.

Advanced Usage

• "Catatonic stupor": Refers to the most common presentation of catatonia, involving immobility, silence, and apparent unawareness of the surroundings.
  • During the episode, he fell into a catatonic stupor.
• "Excited catatonia" or "catatonic excitement": A less common but severe form involving purposeless, excessive, and agitated motor activity.
  • The phase of stupor was followed by a dangerous period of excited catatonia.

Variants and Related Words

• Catatonic (adjective): Relating to or suffering from catatonia.
  • She was in a catatonic state.
• Catatonic (noun): A person affected by catatonia.
  • The ward had several catatonics who required constant care.

Synonyms

• Stupor
• Catalepsy (specifically refers to the trance-like state with rigid body posture)
• Motor immobility

Notes on Meaning

The term has two closely related primary meanings in English: 1. The specific syndrome as a form of or symptom within schizophrenia (as in the reference context). 2. More broadly, any similar state of suspended animation, muscular rigidity, and unresponsiveness, which can also be caused by other medical conditions.

Noun

1. a form of schizophrenia characterized by a tendency to remain in a fixed stuporous state for long periods; the catatonia may give way to short periods of extreme excitement
2. extreme tonus; muscular rigidity; a common symptom in catatonic schizophrenia