Jordi and catatonia: «my mother is dead»

Abstract

Catatonia is considered an undertreated and underdiagnosed neuropsychiatric syndrome, which has a good prognosis if treated early, avoiding complications and life-threatening risk. A catatonia prevalence of 9.2% is estimated, being frequent both in medical illnesses (neurological and non-neurological, drug and substance intoxication) and in psychiatric ones (schizophrenia, depression). It requires a multidisciplinary approach to refine the aetiological diagnosis. The first-line treatment is benzodiazepines and electroconvulsive therapy; in parallel and no less importantly, patients require intensive nursing care due to the complications arising from prolonged immobility and the patient’s inability to hydrate and feed themselves. Other autonomic-level risks are dehydration, aspiration, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, muscle contractures, renal failure and rhabdomyolysis, pressure ulcers, weight loss, nutritional deficits, hydroelectrolyte disturbances and urinary infections. We present the clinical case of a 54-year-old patient with a diagnosis of schizophrenia of many years’ evolution and 70% intellectual disability. He currently presents catatonia that appears acutely days after the death of his mother from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The case is described and its characteristics, the nursing interventions carried out and the evolution presented are explained.