Abstract

HUARCAYA-VICTORIA, Jeff  and  PODESTA-AMPUERO, Angela. Cotard’s syndrome, catatonia and depression: A case report. Rev Neuropsiquiatr [online]. 2018, vol.81, n.2, pp.135-140. ISSN 0034-8597.  http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.20453/rnp.v81i2.3342.

Cotard’s syndrome is a relatively rare psychiatric condition, with sometimes dramatic clinical characteristics. The patient so diagnosed denies the existence of some parts of his body, or even, his or her own existence. Initially described by Jules Cotard in 1880, the history of this syndrome has gone through a variety of conceptual vicissitudes. Nowadays, denying or nihilist delusions are considered as a synonym of Cotard’s syndrome, while the presence of catatonic symptoms has been described as fairly infrequent. The case of a 47-year-old male patient with major depressive disorder who developed Cotard’s syndrome and catatonia is presented; he was treated with venlafaxine 150 mg/day, aripiprazole 15 mg/day and diazepam 40 mg/day, showing a consistent improvement after four weeks. A literature review about Cotard syndrome complements the case discussion.

Keywords : Catatonia; major depressive disorder.

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