Case Report: Successful Use of the Combination of Electroconvulsive Therapy and Clozapine in Treating Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia and Catatonia in an Adult with Intellectual Disability.

Doctors treated one young learners man. He had moderate intellectual disability, schizophrenia, and catatonia.

Medicines had failed for ten years. The team tried two shocks to the brain each week plus the drug clozapine.

They tracked his speech, movement, and hallucinations for six months.

After eight weeks the man spoke again, fed himself, and no longer heard voices.

He stayed well for the full six-month follow-up. The combo worked when every other drug had failed.

Dolezal et al. (2010) looked at every clozapine paper in ID and saw no clear win for behavior problems. Our single case shows the drug can still win when paired with ECT for true schizophrenia.

Patton et al. (2020) warned that adults with ID often carry too many psychotropics and look over-medicated. Our case went the other way: cutting failed drugs and adding one strong pair beat catatonia.

Fournier et al. (2004) proved specialist inpatient units get better results for adults with ID. The success here happened in that exact setting—specialist psychiatrists, nurses, and ABA staff working together.

If you serve an adult with ID plus psychosis and nothing works, ask the psychiatrist about ECT plus clozapine. One good case is not a rule, but it gives you a next step when all else fails. Track behavior data before and after so the team can see real change.