The following is a summary of “ Catatonia and melancholia interface: exploring a new paradigm for evaluation and treatment. A case series and literature review,” published in the March 2024 issue of Psychiatry by Mahgoub et al.
Catatonia and melancholia share symptomatology, as noted historically and in contemporary diagnostic manuals like DSM-5 and DSM-5-TR.
Researchers started a retrospective study to investigate the relationship between mood disorders, melancholia, and catatonia for enhanced diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
They present six cases of patients admitted for severe depression symptoms, including anhedonia, anxiety, psychomotor disturbances, indecisiveness, and vegetative symptoms.
The results showed that all patients underwent rapid and complete resolution of their mood and psychomotor symptoms, indecisiveness, perseveration, and psychosis after lorazepam administration. Symptoms recurred upon discontinuation and resolved upon resumption at times.
Investigators concluded that melancholia and catatonia are significantly associated, proposing provisional diagnostic criteria and exploring lorazepam as a treatment option for treatment-resistant depression.
Source: frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1372136/full