A person suffering from catatonia, a state of extreme muscle rigidity, immobility, and often selective mutism often associated with schizophrenia or other serious mental illnesses.
From Greek 'kata' (down) + 'tonos' (tension, tone), referring to extreme muscle tension and rigidity. The suffix '-iac' means a person affected by a condition.
Catatonia is so rare now thanks to modern antipsychotic medications that most doctors today have never seen a severe case—but in early psychiatric hospitals, it was heartbreaking and mysterious, with patients frozen in bizarre postures.
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