Lorazepam treatment of acute and chronic catatonia in two mentally retarded brothers.

BACKGROUND: Acute catatonia of the retarded type responds rapidly to treatment with lorazepam. There is little information about (1) the efficacy of benzodiazepines in patients with longstanding catatonic syndrome; (2) the effect of longer-term lorazepam therapy in catatonic patients who do not respond to a brief trial of the medication; and (3) the development of catatonic syndromes in family members. METHOD: We gave lorazepam to two mentally …