Schizophrenia typically happens in three stages and has five key symptoms. The active stage of schizophrenia is when symptoms are at their worst. The key symptoms of schizophrenia can happen regardless of whether or not catatonia is also present. Those five symptoms are:

Delusions.
Hallucinations.
Disorganized or incoherent speaking.
Disorganized or unusual movements.
Negative symptoms (in this context, negative means “diminished” or “reduced” instead of bad).
See our main Schizophrenia article for more about these symptoms and the stages during which they happen.

Symptoms of catatonia
Historically, experts have recognized up to 40 different symptoms that can happen with catatonia. The DSM-5 narrows that list to 12 symptoms.

Agitation. This means a person acts upset or irritable for no clear reason. It only counts as a symptom of catatonia if it happens and isn’t a response to something around the person having it.

Catalepsy (pronounced “cat-ah-lep-see”). This is when a person holds a position in which someone places them (you can still move them around to make them take on a new pose).

Echolalia (pronounced “eck-oh-la-lee-ah”). This is when a person echoes sounds or words that someone else makes.

Echopraxia (pronounced “eck-oh-prax-ee-ah”). This is when a person mimics or mirrors someone else’s movements or behaviors.

Grimacing. This is holding the same facial expression, usually with stiff or tense facial muscles. Sometimes, it can take the form of smiling in inappropriate contexts.

Mannerism. This is when a person acts out motions or movements that are usually seen as normal, but does them in an unusual and exaggerated way.

Mutism (pronounced “mew-tism”). This is when a person is either very or totally quiet (this is only a symptom if the person doesn’t have another condition, such as aphasia, to explain why they aren’t speaking).

Negativism (pronounced “neg-uh-tiv-ism”). This means a person doesn’t react to something happening around them or actively resists what’s happening around them for no rational reason.

Posturing. This is when a person holds a specific position, which would often be uncomfortable to people who aren’t experiencing catatonia. In contrast to catalepsy, this doesn’t involve being placed in the position by another person.

Stereotypy (pronounced “stair-ee-oh-type-ee”). These are repetitive movements that don’t seem to have a purpose. They can include finger-play and patting/rubbing one’s body.

Stupor (pronounced “stoop-er”). This is when a person is awake but doesn’t respond to what’s happening around them. People with catatonia often don’t respond to painful stimuli such as being pinched.

Waxy flexibility. This is when a person puts up some slight, even push-back or resistance to any attempt to change their position. Then their muscles slowly release and their limbs bend like a warm candle.

While people who show signs of catatonia may not react to what’s happening around them, many of them are aware of what’s happening. Research shows that people who had catatonia symptoms often remember what happened to and around them, even though they showed little or no reaction to their surroundings.

Shifts in activity level
While schizophrenia happens in phases, the involvement of catatonia often changes how the condition progresses. Most cases of schizophrenia with catatonia develop and get worse quickly.

Catatonia can also involve different levels of activity. Some people with catatonia will stay nonresponsive to the world around them for a time, but then, will shift to a much higher level of activity. In some cases, these shifts in activity level include behavior that’s impulsive or even dangerous to the person themselves or to those around them.