DIAGNOSING DEATH AND RESURRECTING THE MYTH OR REALITY OF CATALEPSY

Abstract

Death is medically described as the irreversible loss of essential characteristics and requires irreversible loss of capacity for consciousness and capacity to breathe. Death certification has legal, ethical, philosophical, biological, cultural, and religious characteristics and consequences. Its diagnosis is based on the best available scientific evidence: somatic, circulatory and/or neurological criteria. Even if we accept the determination of death is “scientific” and a set of criteria for its diagnosis have been established, death diagnosis still differs among countries. It is for this reason and sporadic cases like the one occurred recently in Spain, that “artistic” aspects of medicine and the mystery of the extensively described condition catalepsy revive. Catalepsy is a medical condition characterized by inactivity, decreased responsiveness to external stimuli, and a tendency to maintain an immobile posture (muscular rigidity). This condition may be associated with psychotic disorders, nervous system drug toxicity, and other conditions. Moreover, its influence in artistic literature and mass media have led to the consideration of catalepsy as a cornerstone in the confluence of medicine, art, mystery, science and society.