Author Archives: Shervan K Shahhian, LIBERTY PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, The Most Comprehensive Online Library Regarding Mental Health, Psychology and Parapsychology in the World.

Catatonia is a medical emergency if severe (especially if the person stops eating or drinking).

See a Psychiatrist and or a Neurologist for more information.

Catatonia isn’t just one single state, it’s a syndrome with several forms that can appear in different psychiatric, neurological, or medical conditions.

Here are the main types of catatonia, based on presentation and underlying features:

1. Retarded (Stuporous) Catatonia

This is the most common type and involves decreased movement and responsiveness.
Key features:

• Mutism (not speaking)
• Stupor (immobile, unresponsive but awake)
• Waxy flexibility (limbs stay in positions placed by others)
• Negativism (resistance to movement or instruction)
• Posturing (holding odd positions for long periods)
• Echolalia or echopraxia (repeating words or movements)

Often seen in major depression, schizophrenia, or medical illnesses (e.g., encephalitis, metabolic disorders).

2. Excited (Agitated) Catatonia

Characterized by excessive, purposeless, or frenzied motor activity.
Key features:

• Hyperactivity or agitation
• Verbigeration (repetition of meaningless words/phrases)
• Impulsivity or combativeness
• Stereotyped movements (repetitive gestures)
• Sudden emotional outbursts

This type can rapidly switch between agitation and stupor and may be seen in mania, psychotic states, or toxic/metabolic conditions.

3. Malignant (Lethal) Catatonia

A life-threatening form with autonomic instability.
Key features:

• Fever
• Delirium or confusion
• Elevated blood pressure, pulse, and respiration
• Rigidity
• Rapid progression to stupor or coma

Closely resembles neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) and requires emergency treatment.

4. Periodic or Recurrent Catatonia

• Episodes of catatonia that recur intermittently over months or years.
• Often linked to mood disorders or genetic susceptibility.

5. Atypical or Mixed Catatonia

• Patients show a combination of retarded and excited features or shift between them.
• Sometimes seen in bipolar disorder or schizoaffective states.

Shervan K Shahhian

A manic episode is a distinct period of abnormally and persistently elevated, expansive, or irritable mood accompanied by increased energy or activity. In psychiatry, it’s most often associated with Bipolar I Disorder, but it can also occur due to substances, medical conditions, or other mood disorders.

Here’s a clear breakdown:

Core Features of a Manic Episode

• Duration: At least 1 week (or any duration if hospitalization is required).
• Mood: Abnormally elevated, expansive, or irritable.
• Activity/Energy: Abnormally increased, goal-directed activity or energy.

Symptoms:

• Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
• Decreased need for sleep (e.g., feels rested after 3 hours)
• More talkative or pressured speech
• Flight of ideas or racing thoughts
• Easily distracted
• Increase in goal-directed activities (work, social, sexual) or psychomotor agitation
• Excessive involvement in risky activities (spending sprees, sexual indiscretions, reckless investments)

Severity

• Severe enough to cause marked impairment in social/occupational functioning, require hospitalization, or involve psychotic features.
• Not attributable to substances use/abuse or another medical conditions.

Shervan K Shahhian

Psychological science is applied to legal questions because the law is fundamentally about people—how they think, feel, and behave. Psychology offers systematic methods to understand and explain human behavior, which helps the legal system make more accurate, fair, and effective decisions.

Some key reasons include:

• Understanding behavior: Courts and juries often need to evaluate why people act the way they do (e.g., criminal intent, eyewitness testimony, memory reliability). Psychology provides evidence-based insight into these questions.
• Improving legal processes: Research shows, for example, that eyewitness memory is fallible and that certain interrogation techniques can produce false confessions. Applying psychology helps refine procedures to reduce errors.
• Assessing individuals: Psychologists assess competence to stand trial, risk of reoffending, mental state at the time of an offense, and treatment needs—issues directly tied to justice.
• Policy and law development: Psychological findings inform how laws are written and enforced (e.g., understanding adolescent brain development has influenced juvenile justice policies).
• Promoting fairness: Psychology helps identify biases in judges, juries, and legal procedures, supporting a more equitable justice system.

In short, psychology brings scientific knowledge about the mind and behavior into the legal arena, where decisions often hinge on questions about human thought, memory, emotion, and action.

Shervan K Shahhian

Legal psychology is a subfield of psychology that focuses on how psychological principles, methods, and research apply to the law and legal systems. It sits within the broader area of psychology and law and overlaps with forensic psychology, but it is not the same thing.

At its core, legal psychology is about understanding the human behavior, thought processes, and decision-making that play a role in legal contexts. It covers areas such as:

Eyewitness testimony — how accurate people’s memories are, what factors affect reliability, and how testimony can be influenced.

Jury decision-making — how jurors evaluate evidence, deliberate as a group, and what biases or heuristics may affect verdicts.

Police investigations and interrogations — studying false confessions, suspect interviews, and investigative decision-making.

Expert testimony — psychologists providing courts with specialized knowledge (e.g., about memory, risk assessment, or mental states).

Public policy and lawmaking — applying psychological research to improve laws and legal procedures.

Unlike forensic psychology, which is more clinical and often involves direct assessment of individuals (e.g., competency evaluations, risk of reoffending), legal psychology is more experimental and research-oriented, focusing on general psychological phenomena relevant to the legal system.

 In short: Legal psychology is the scientific study of how psychology interacts with the law — especially in areas like memory, decision-making, persuasion, and justice.

Shervan K Shahhian

Psychology and Law - often called legal psychology - is the field that studies how psychological principles, theories, and methods apply within the legal and justice systems. It’s an interdisciplinary area that combines knowledge from psychology (how people think, feel, and behave) with law (rules, systems, and decision-making).

Here are the main aspects:
Understanding human behavior in legal contexts
 Psychologists study how people involved in the justice system - judges, juries, victims, witnesses, police, and offenders - think and act.

Eyewitness testimony
 Research explores how memory, stress, suggestion, and bias affect what witnesses recall, and how reliable their testimony is.

Jury decision-making
 Psychologists analyze how jurors form opinions, evaluate evidence, and are influenced by group dynamics or pretrial publicity.

Competency and responsibility
 Forensic psychologists assess whether someone is competent to stand trial, understands their legal rights, or was criminally responsible at the time of an offense.

Risk assessment and rehabilitation
 Psychology helps courts and corrections estimate the likelihood of reoffending and design programs to reduce future crime.

Police and investigative psychology
 Involves profiling, interrogation methods, and understanding decision-making under pressure.

Child custody and family law
 Psychologists may provide evaluations to guide decisions about children’s best interests.

In short: Psychology and Law aims to improve justice by applying psychological science to legal questions.

Shervan K Shahhian

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder marked by episodes of depression and episodes of elevated or irritable mood. The two relevant poles; mania and mixed states — are key features:

Mania

A manic episode is a distinct period (at least 1 week, or any duration if hospitalization is required) of abnormally elevated, expansive, or irritable mood, along with increased energy/activity.
 Typical features include:

• Inflated self-esteem or grandiosity
• Decreased need for sleep (feels rested after 3 hours)
• Pressured speech, talking more than usual
• Flight of ideas or racing thoughts
• Distractibility
• Increased goal-directed activity or psychomotor agitation
• Risky or impulsive behaviors (e.g., reckless spending, sexual indiscretions, substance use)

Severe mania can lead to psychosis (delusions, hallucinations) and often requires hospitalization.

Mixed States (Mixed Features)

A mixed state (or “with mixed features”) means symptoms of both mania/hypomania and depression occur at the same time or in very rapid shifts.
 Examples:

• Depressed mood + racing thoughts
• Low energy + high agitation
• Suicidal thinking + impulsive risk-taking
• Irritability and anxiety alongside manic drive

These states are especially dangerous, as the combination of impulsivity and despair can increase risk of suicidal behavior, Crisis support: Please Get Immediate help if suicidal (911 in the US, or 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

Key Points Clinically

• Bipolar I Disorder: Defined by at least one manic episode (often with depressive episodes).
• Bipolar II Disorder: Defined by hypomanic (less severe than mania, no psychosis) and depressive episodes.
• Mixed states can occur in either type.
• Medical treatments: See a Psychiatrist
• Psychotherapy (psychoeducation, CBT, family-focused therapy) and lifestyle regulation (sleep, stress, routines) are also crucial.

Shervan K Shahhian

Psychomotor agitation is a state of increased, unintentional physical and mental activity that often shows up in people experiencing severe anxiety, mood disorders, or certain medical or neurological conditions.

It isn’t simply “restlessness.” It usually looks like excessive, purposeless movements linked to internal tension.

Common Signs

Restless movements: pacing, fidgeting, tapping fingers, shifting in seat

Repetitive gestures: rubbing hands, pulling at clothes, hair twirling

Speech changes: talking rapidly, interrupting, pressured tone

Difficulty sitting still: constant need to move or walk around

Visible inner tension: irritability, frustration, inability to relax

Associated Conditions

Mood disorders: major depressive disorder (especially with agitation), bipolar disorder (mania/mixed states)

Anxiety disorders

Substance use/abuse or withdrawal (e.g., stimulants, alcohol withdrawal)

Neurological conditions: See a Neurologist

Side effects of medications: See a Psychiatrist

Clinical Relevance

In psychiatry, psychomotor agitation is a key observation in mental status exams: (see a psychiatrist)

It can indicate severity of depression, particularly if accompanied by suicidal thoughts, Crisis support: Please Get Immediate help if suicidal (911 in the US, or 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).

In neurology/medicine, it can point to different medical conditions, see a Psychiatrist and or a Neurologist.

Shervan K Shahhian