Catatonia Sundararajan Rajagopal

Mechanism of Catatonia Clinical Features of Catatonia

The concept of catatonia was first described by Kahlbaum (1874). Catatonic stupor is one of the most dramatic psychiatric presentations, but is becoming increasingly rare in the Western world. However, it has been suggested that catatonia is under-recognised and under-diagnosed (Van der Heijden et al, 2005). Although the introduction of antipsychotics has reduced the incidence of catatonia, it ...

Pandora’s Box

The impact factor and psychiatry journals: an international perspective

The impact factor (IF) is a metric for assessing academic journals. Despite its shortcomings, the IF is the preeminent yardstick by which the quality of scientific journals is determined. In this paper, the key aspects of the IF are covered from an international perspective, with a specific emphasis on psychiatry journals.

Catatonia: extinct, lost, or forgotten?

Catatonia is a neuropsychiatric syndrome that occurs in some primary psychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia, mood disorders), or due to general medical conditions (e.g., neurological disorders, drug poisoning, metabolic disorders) (1). Although it is uncommon, but if it goes unrecognized in medical and surgical units (2), it can increase morbidity and mortality. Moreover, making a connectio...

Organic Catatonia: a Review

Catatonia is a clinical syndrome associated with a wide variety of psychiatric, medical and neurological disorders. Despite several reports in the literature of a wide range of medical and neurological diseases causing catatonia, there has been a tendency to consider catatonia as purely psychiatric disorder. The review attempts to look at the concept of organic catatonia from a historical viewp...