Unresponsiveness of catatonic symptoms to naloxone

A case report of a catatonic patient is presented. Because of the similarity of catatonia to the animal behavior produced by intracerebral administration of beta-endorphin, an endogenous opioid, naloxone was administered. No effect was observed with naloxone, whereas both amobarbital and diazepam were able to reverse catatonic behavior. Testing of catatonic patients with naloxone may help further elucidate naloxone's reported anti-psychotic properties.