{"id":16673,"date":"2013-02-07T16:40:10","date_gmt":"2013-02-08T00:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?page_id=16673"},"modified":"2015-08-04T11:31:00","modified_gmt":"2015-08-04T18:31:00","slug":"catalepsy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/catalepsy\/","title":{"rendered":"Catalepsy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Catalepsy<\/strong><\/span> is a symptom resulting from problems with the nervous system, and causes muscular rigidity. People with the symptom may also be less sensitive to touch and have a decreased sensitivity to pain. Catalepsy generally causes people to be nonresponsive to speech. It is similar to catatonia, a condition marked by strange movements, lack of movement, and\/or general nonresponsiveness. However, it typically has an underlying physiological cause and does not cause stereotyped movements.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Symptoms of Catalepsy<\/strong><br \/>\nSymptoms of catalepsy include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Extremely rigid body posture<\/li>\n<li>Decreased sensitivity to pain<\/li>\n<li>Limbs that stay in the same position when they are moved<\/li>\n<li>Slower bodily functions, particularly breathing<\/li>\n<li>Decreased muscle control, or complete loss of muscle control<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Causes of Catalepsy<\/strong><br \/>\nCatalepsy is a symptom of neurological disorders such as Parkinson\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s disease and epilepsy. Withdrawal from some drugs, particularly cocaine, may also cause catalepsy. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/drugs\/anti-psychotics.html\" target=\"_blank\">Antipsychotic medications<\/a> may also cause catalepsy&#8211;catalepsy is one of many side effects that interfere with people with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/schizophrenia\" target=\"_blank\">schizophrenia&#8217;s<\/a> willingness to take their medication. Rarely, extreme <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/emotion\" target=\"_blank\">emotions<\/a> can cause catalepsy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Treatment for Catalepsy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Treatment typically focuses on ameliorating underlying neurological causes of the disorder. Muscle relaxants may be effective for some people with catalepsy. When catalepsy is caused by drug withdrawal, people typically return to normal after several days or weeks. However, clinicians must carefully monitor them for signs of life-threatening conditions. When catalepsy is caused by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychpedia\/shock\" target=\"_blank\">shock<\/a>, extreme emotion or trauma, it usually goes away on its own. If it persists for an extended period of time, however, antipsychotic medications in conjunction with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/individual-therapy.html\" target=\"_blank\">psychotherapy<\/a> may help remedy the underlying cause.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Catalepsy in Popular Culture<\/strong><br \/>\nUpon learning that he had won the gold medal, Olympic long jumper Bob Beamon entered into a brief cataleptic seizure. Catalepsy has also been used as a plotline in numerous movies and books.<\/p>\n<p><strong>References:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Colman, A. M. (2006). Oxford dictionary of psychology. New York, NY: Oxford UniversityPress.<\/li>\n<li>Redgrave, S. (n.d.). Olympic milestones: Bob Beamon&#8217;s astonishing leap into sporting history. The Evening Standard. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.standard.co.uk\/olympics\/olympics-sport\/olympic-milestones-bob-beamons-astonishing-leap-into-sporting-history-7444832.html<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Catalepsy is a symptom resulting from problems with the nervous system, and causes muscular rigidity. People with the symptom may also be less sensitive to touch and have a decreased sensitivity to pain. Catalepsy generally causes people to be nonresponsive to speech. It is similar to catatonia, a condition marked by strange movements, lack of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2474,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"psychpedia.php","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16673","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2474"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}