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Table 1 Clinical diagnosis of catatonia

From: Refractory catatonia in old age: a case report

Clinical feature

Description

Catalepsy

Passive induction of a posture held against gravity

Waxy flexibility

Slight and even resistance to positioning by examiner

Stupor

No psychomotor activity; no reactivity to environment

Agitation

Agitation, not influenced by external stimuli

Mutism

No, or minimal verbal response

Negativism

Opposing or not responding to instructions or external stimuli

Posturing

Spontaneous and active maintenance of a posture against gravity

Mannerisms

Odd caricature of normal actions

Stereotypies

Repetitive, abnormally frequent, non-goal-directed movements

Grimacing

Maintenance of odd facial expressions

Echolalia

Repeating the words spoken by the examiner

Echopraxia

Mimicking the movements made by the examiner

  1. DSM-5 criteria for catatonia [7], defined as the presence of three or more of the clinical features listed above