| Conversion disorder | |
|---|---|
| Specialty | Psychiatry, Neurology |
| Symptoms | Numbness, weakness, movement problems, non-epileptic seizures, tremor, fainting, trouble speaking, impaired hearing and vision, trouble swallowing |
| Risk factors | Long-term stress |
| Treatment | Cognitive behavioral therapy, medication, physical/occupational therapy |
Conversion disorder (CD), or functional neurologic symptom disorder (FNsD), is a functional disorder that causes abnormal sensory experiences and movement problems during periods of high psychological stress. Individuals with CD present with highly distressing neurological symptoms such as numbness, blindness, paralysis, or convulsions, which are not consistent with a well-established organic cause and can be traced back to a psychological trigger.[1]
It is thought that these symptoms arise in response to stressful situations affecting a patient's mental health or an ongoing mental health condition such as depression. Individuals diagnosed with conversion disorder have a greater chance of experiencing certain psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, and personality disorders compared to those diagnosed with neurological disorders.[2]
Conversion disorder was retained in the DSM-5-TR, but was renamed to functional neurologic symptom disorder (FNsD), a subset of functional neurologic disorder (FND). FND covers the same range of symptoms as FNsD, but does not include the requirements for a psychological stressor to be present. The new criteria no longer requires feigning to be disproven before diagnosing FND nor FNsD. The ICD-11 classifies conversion disorder as a dissociative disorder with unspecified neurological symptoms.[3][4]