Decalogue of catatonia in autism spectrum disorders.

Abstract

From the book “Pensees” by BlaisePascal (1623–1662)French mathematician, physicist,inventor, writer, and philosopher.This article is an unabashed drumroll forincreased recognition and treatment ofcatatonia in autism spectrum disorders(ASD). This new diagnostic and treat-mentparadigmhasemergedduringthelastdecade (1,2) and is supported by changesin catatonia classification in DSM-5 (3)purporting to boost recognition of pedi-atric catatonia and catatonia in ASD (4).Findings are summarized,a vignette is pre-sented,andaDecalogue(or“10command-ments”) is offered covering rules for assess-ment, diagnosis, treatment, and researchin the field of catatonia in ASD. Unlikethe biblical Decalogue handed to Moses onMount Sinai, these rules are hardly divine,do not mark universal truths, are mainlybasedonclinicalexperience,andneedtobecalibrated further as knowledge increases.They do represent the best available rec-ommendations, at least in my opinion, forfutureresearchandinordertoachievepos-itive outcomes that are equally rewardingfor the patients and their families, and fortheir physicians.