Catalepsy is a transient nervous disorder characterized by loss of voluntary motor activity, muscle rigidity, postural fixity and decreased sensitivity to stimuli with slowing of autonomic functions. Even if it can be linked to certain organic syndromes, in particular infectious and neurological, catalepsy is mainly observed in psychiatry. Its treatment lies in that of its cause.

Definition of catalepsy

Catalepsy is a transient nervous disorder characterized by loss of voluntary motor activity, muscle rigidity, postural fixity and decreased sensitivity to stimuli with slowing of autonomic functions. Catalepsy was formerly defined as a waxy flexibility because the immobile patient can keep the positions that he is made to take for a very long time, like waxing. It presents itself in the form of seizures.

The term catalepsy is also used in hypnosis when the subject is no longer aware of his environment.

Types de catalepsies

Cataleptic attacks can present themselves in different forms:

• Intense and generalized catalepsy is rare;
• Often, the crisis of catalepsy will leave the patient motionless, vaguely aware of the surroundings, as if his motor skills are stopped;
• Some forms of catalepsy, called rigid, do not exhibit the waxy flexibility of the limbs.

Causes of catalepsy

Catalepsy may be linked to protein kinase A (PKA), an enzyme involved in the transmission of signals to and within the cell and a dopamine neuromodulator.

Even if it can be linked to certain organic syndromes, in particular infectious and neurological, catalepsy is mainly observed in psychiatry. It is also one of the components observable in the psychomotor disorder of catatonia (disorder of expression).

Diagnosis of catalepsy

The diagnosis of catalepsy is made by observing the symptoms during a seizure.

People affected by catalepsy

People with mental illness are more prone to catalepsy attacks.

Factors favoring catalepsy

Factors favoring catalepsy are:

• Certain neurological conditions such as epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease;
• Schizophrenia, conversion disorders;
• Withdrawal syndrome following cocaine addiction;
• A brain pathology like a tumor;
• Extreme emotional shock.

Rigid body and limbs

Catalepsy induces stiffness of the face, body and limbs. Voluntary muscle control is abolished.

Fixity of posture

During a cataleptic attack, the patient is frozen in a given position, even when it is uncomfortable or strange.

Wax flexibility

The cataleptic patient often maintains the positions imposed on him.

Other symptoms

• Slowing of autonomic functions: slowed heartbeat, imperceptible breathing;
• Paleness giving the appearance of a corpse;
• Decreased sensitivity to the environment;
• Lack of reaction to stimuli.

The treatment of catalepsy is that of its cause.

In order to prevent an attack of catalepsy, it is necessary to treat the cause upstream.