Conversion disorder

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Conversion disorder

Alternative Names:

Hysterical neurosis

Symptoms:

The symptoms of conversion disorder involve the loss of one or more bodily functions. These may include blindness, paralysis or the inability to speak. The loss of physical function is involuntary and diagnostic testing does not show a physical cause for the dysfunction.

Signs and tests:

Some of the common signs of conversion disorder include:

The sudden onset of a debilitating symptom
A history of a recent psychological conflict that is resolved through the development of the symptom
A lack of concern that is usually associated with a severe symptom

A physical examination is performed to rule out physical causes for the loss of function. Specific diagnostic testing related to the symptom is warranted to rule out a physical cause.

Review Date: 12/1/2004
Reviewed By: James W. Dilley, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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