Catatonia specifier requires marked psychomotor disturbance dominated by how many features?

• A. 2+
• B. 3+
• C. 4+
• D. 5+

Answer: (B)

Catatonia is diagnosed when there is a cluster of marked psychomotor abnormalities, and the specifier is applied only if at least three of these characteristic signs are present. This threshold keeps the diagnosis robust, ensuring that the motor disturbance truly dominates the clinical picture rather than presenting as a few transient or minor movements. The signs span a range of motor phenomena such as stupor, mutism, waxy flexibility or catalepsy, negativism, posturing, mannerisms, grimacing, stereotypies, and echolalia or echopraxia. Because you need three or more of these features, the correct threshold is three or more, which corresponds to selecting a option indicating 3+. If fewer than three signs are present, catatonia would not meet the specifier criteria.