APA Resource Document Delves into Catatonia

Benchmark for assessing the adequacy of violence prevention policies

The American Psychiatric Association’s Resource Document on Catatonia was prepared by the Catatonia Work Group of the Council on Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry, with the goal of supporting psychiatrists, trainees and other mental health care workers and to provide a useful framework for understanding catatonia and assessing the adequacy of existing violence prevention policies. It provides a list of resources for the development of state-of-the-art policy approaches.

The authors—including prominent ACLP members—review the history of catatonia; its epidemiology including prevalence and risk factors; common evaluation methods including rating scales, diagnostic criteria and clinical evaluation of medical causes; and catatonia’s complications, with a focus on physical examination, laboratory studies, neuroimaging and electroencephalography.

Differential diagnosis of catatonia is reviewed including: abulia/akinetic mutism, delirium, major neurocognitive disorders, locked in syndrome, late stage Parkinson’s disease, Stiff Person Syndrome, Akathisia, mania, malignant catatonia/Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, autoimmune encephalitis, and Serotonin Syndrome.

Common interventions and treatment recommendations are highlighted, with a focus on benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy. Additionally, the resource highlights considerations in specific populations including pediatrics, the medically complex, pregnancy and postpartum period, and dementia and concludes with a review of ethical and legal considerations.

See: Taking an Evidence-Based Approach to 10 Common Myths about Catatonia, this issue.

 

« All 2025 ACLP News« July 2025 ACLP News