A patient with a years-long history of catatonic schizophrenia, on no new or recently changed medication, is found holding a bizarrely twisted body position, unresponsive to attempts to move it, with no sign of spasm. Before revealing the answer: is this acute dystonia?
No, this is more consistent with a catatonic stereotyped posture than with acute dystonia. Acute dystonia requires an acute onset with a clear, recent medication association and a typically spasmodic quality, none of which fits this longstanding, non-medication-linked, steadily held posture.
References
- Casey, P. & Kelly, B. (2019). Fish's Clinical Psychopathology, 4th ed. Ch. 8, 'Motor Disorders'.