What is "waxy flexibility"

n. A psychomotor symptom of catatonic schizophrenia which leads to a decreased response to stimuli and a tendency to remain in an immobile posture.

Waxy flexibility is a psychomotor symptom of catatonic schizophrenia which leads to a decreased response to stimuli and a tendency to remain in an immobile posture.

For instance, if one were to move the arm of someone with waxy flexibility, they would keep their arm where one moved it until it was moved again, as if it were made from wax. Further alteration of an individual's posture is similar to bending a candle. Although waxy flexibility has historically been linked to schizophrenia, there are also other disorders which it may be associated with, for example, mood disorder with catatonic behaviour.