Catatonia: A Look Inside Apparently Frozen Minds
The condition of frozen immobility is reported to occur in more than 10% of patients with acute psychiatric illnessesJonathan Rogers, a psychiatrist and researcher who specializes in catatonia, shares his sense of mystery: Occasionally, as a doctor, I am asked to see a patient in the emergency department who is completely mute. They sit motionless, staring around the room. I lift up their arm and it stays in that position. Someone takes a blood test and they don’t even wince. They haven’t eaten or drunk anything for a day or two. Questions start running through your mind. What’s wrong with them? Would they respond to someone else? Do they have a brain injury? Are they putting it on? And – hardest of all – how am I to know what’s going on if they can’t tell me? Jonathan Read More ›