Prevalence and Pathomorphosis of Catatonia: From XX to XXI Century

Background: catatonia is an actual mental disorder with the controversy in prevalence data that is related to the problem of it’s conceptualization, clinical borders and pathomorphosis. Objective: to analyse publications on the problem of the catatonia prevalence decrease from the beginning of the XX century to the present day and to designate potential factors of pathomorphosis that impact on frequency, as well as on clinical presentations of catatonia.Materials and method: publications of original studies that provide catatonia prevalence data over the past 120 years.Conclusion: pathomorphosis of catatonia both due to antypsychotics and psychosocial factors has affected the prevalence, as well as the conceptualization of catatonia. There is a transition from a syndrome construct, primarily characteristic for schizophrenia, to the transnosologic paradigm. This one leads to the revision of the boundaries of catatonia and change of the diagnostic criteria.