A rare case of catatonia associated with COVID-19 infection

Tara Styan; Julian Lee; Jay Wang

doi:10.1016/j.psycr.2022.100054

A rare case of catatonia associated with COVID-19 infection

Psychiatry Res Case Rep. 2022 Dec;1(2):100054. doi: 10.1016/j.psycr.2022.100054. Epub 2022 Sep 9.

Authors

Tara Styan^{1

2}, Julian Lee³, Jay Wang^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, Royal Columbian Hospital, Mental Health and Substance Use Wellness Centre, 330 E Columbia St, New Westminster, BC V3L 3M2, Canada.
² Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 317-2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
³ Department of Neurology, Royal Columbian Hospital, 330 E Columbia St, New Westminster, BC V3L 3M2, Canada.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia, 317 - 2194 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.

Abstract

COVID-19, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, has well-documented common symptoms such as cough and fever. There is also extensive documentation on the more severe outcomes, such as sepsis and death. However, there is minimal literature regarding the neuropsychiatric effects of COVID-19. This case report outlines a patient who presented with apparent psychosis shortly after COVID-19 infection. Shortly after hospitalization, she began to develop symptoms of catatonia. Her catatonia subsequently was recognized and resolved with appropriate treatment with lorazepam. There have been a handful of similar reports regarding patients with COVID-19 developing catatonia and responding well to lorazepam. Therefore, catatonia may be associated with COVID-19. Clinicians should consider catatonia diagnosis in patients with COVID-19 who have changes in behaviour, mental status, or motor function, to prevent deterioration secondary to untreated catatonia. Furthermore, COVID-19 testing should be considered in patients with acute psychiatric presentations.

Keywords: COVID-19; Catatonia.

Publication types

Case Reports