Catatonic schizophrenia is characterised by auditory and visual hallucinations and most typically the presence of bizarre motor activity. Immobility, bizarre postures, excessive purposeless movements and mutism characterise the disease.

Other symptoms include: prolonged maintenance of a fixed posture (catalepsy), grimacing, parrot-like repetition of a word or phrase just spoken by someone else (echolalia), repetitive imitation of the movements of another person (echopraxia), stupor or excitement.

Like disorganised schizophrenia, early age of onset is characteristic and like in some cases of schizophrenia, there is often a history of shyness. 

The explanation for this disorder and the advice is more or less the same as for disorganised schizophrenia.