Catalepsy: What It Is, Symptoms, Causes And Associated Disorders
For a long time, one of the great universal fears of humanity was being buried alive, even reaching the present day. Unfortunately this fear was not unfounded, since there are numerous known cases of people, apparently dead, buried while still alive.
This phenomenon of apparent death is known as catalepsy and although there are currently numerous ways to confirm the death of a person, at the dawn of medicine these cases were very numerous.
Catalepsy is categorized as a disorder of the central nervous system This is characterized because the person suffers body paralysis, along with hardening and tension of the muscles, being unable to perform any type of movement.
Another distinctive sign of catalepsy is that the person experiences a reduction in sensitivity to pain But the most striking thing about this disorder is that the person is absolutely aware of everything, being able to hear or see everything that happens around them.
This disorder has traditionally been known as “apparent death”, gaining its fame from a series of cases in which some people were buried alive in a state of catalepsy, and who were thought to have died.
The cause of this confusion is that a person in a state of catalepsy can spend anywhere from a few minutes to a few weeks paralyzed without showing obvious signs of life.
Although at first glance it may seem like a terrifying disorder, given that it appears suddenly and the person remains conscious, It is not a serious condition and the person can recover regularly once the condition is determined. On the other hand, cases of catalepsy have been recorded in healthy people. Usually, its appearance is related to other disorders such as serious diagnoses of schizophrenia, hysteria and some psychoses.
As mentioned in the previous point, a person without any type of disorder or disease can suffer an episode of catalepsy; being more likely to occur after she suffers from an anxiety crisis, fatigue or lumbar afflictions
To avoid possible confusion with fainting or even believing that a person has died, it is important to know the symptoms of catalepsy. These are:
Thus, catalepsy is expressed through motor and physiological symptoms. This, as we will see, causes it to present some characteristics similar to other diseases, as we will see.
Causes
Catalepsy cannot be considered a disorder or disease in itself, but rather a symptom or product of some pathology of the nervous system, such as epilepsy or Parkinson’s. In addition, It is a very characteristic symptom of certain psychotic disorders especially schizophrenia.
In addition to this, some people who undergo alcohol, drug or some type of narcotic rehabilitation treatments are also susceptible to suffering from a cataleptic crisis, so withdrawal syndrome may be a probable origin of catalepsy
Although these are the main causes of this disorder, there are a series of situations in which the person is more likely to experience this phenomenon. These are:
Whatever the case may be, if a person suffers an incident of this type, it is necessary to go to a medical center to rule out any possibility of an associated disorder or pathology.
Treatment
After experiencing a case of catalepsy, urgent evaluation and diagnosis is necessary through techniques such as electroencephalograms (EEG) or electrocardiograms (EEC). The purpose of these is to carry out a correct assessment of the disease and, above all, to exclude the possibility of death.
Unfortunately, there is no specific treatment yet for catalepsy. Therefore, it is of vital importance for the clinician to specify what the cause was, and depending on the final diagnosis, an action process will be carried out to restore the patient’s health.
When the diagnosis is primary and is associated with some disease of the nervous system, such as Parkinson’s, the guideline is administer a series of muscle relaxants to the patient whose benefits have already been demonstrated in these cases.
However, when catalepsy is caused by a psychotic disorder, the action protocol includes the administration of antipsychotic medications by medical personnel along with psychotherapy sessions led by psychologists or psychiatrists.
In addition, there are a series of useful home remedies for when the episode is relatively recurrent and has already been diagnosed. This remedy involves submerging the person’s feet in a hot bath, massaging the spine and abdomen.
Differences between catalepsy and waxy flexibility
As seen in the symptoms point, waxy flexibility constitutes a symptom of catalepsy and although on many occasions these terms are used interchangeably, they do not constitute exactly the same alteration and reveal fundamental differences.
Just as catalepsy constitutes a disorder of the nervous system, waxy flexibility It is a psychomotor symptom characteristic of certain psychological disorders such as catatonic schizophrenia.
Like catalepsy, waxy flexibility presents a decrease in the person’s ability to move, as well as a reduction in the response to external stimuli, suppressing the will to react and remaining in an immobile attitude.
However, as the name of this phenomenon describes, even though the person does not have any control over their own movements, if a third person tries to move any section of their body, they will carry out the movement but It will remain static in the position in which it was left
Therefore, the person’s body adopts the appearance of a mannequin or a wax doll, only being able to move when another person executes the movement for them or modifies their position.
