Madness & Biology

There was a time, not so long ago, when the common public perception of a mad person was one who claimed to be Jesus Christ, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lloyd George, Albert Einstein, Mrs Thatcher, or a teapot (note the historic sequence). Being a teapot was boring but the schizophrenic often had plenty of patience. The popularity of the teapot was mainly to medical staff wishing to demonstrate the phenomenon of flexibilitas cerea, which was once a common feature of schizophrenia. It is a condition in which the limbs can be slowly and passively bent into bizarre positions which they will maintain for long periods. It used to be said that the posture would be maintained indefinitely but this was a typical exaggeration...
- Robert M. Youngson, The Madness of Prince Hamlet and Other Extraordinary States of Mind.