Conversion disorder: symptoms, treatments and possible causes

This strange mental disturbance was long ago known as "hysteria", and Freud theorized about it.

Formerly known as hysteria, conversion disorder gained its fame in the late 19th century, with most people diagnosed with conversion disorder.Most of those diagnosed were women, who were thought to be repressed by the society that surrounded them.

On the other hand, Sigmund Freud himself proposed that this disorder had its origin in a repressed feeling of anger. a repressed feeling of anger or in unresolved internal conflicts, using hypnosis as a remedy.using hypnosis as the main remedy for this disorder.

At the present time, it has been investigated with much more depth, also being denominated as dissociative disorder, mental alteration in which the person unconsciously abandons the control to the person. unconsciously abandons the control at the moment of integrating emotions or experiences and manifesting the discomfort and manifesting the discomfort through physical symptoms.

What is conversion disorder?

Conversion disorder refers to a whole set of symptoms that interfere with human behavior and apparently take the form of a neurological condition. However, these symptoms do not these symptoms do not correspond to any diagnosed physical alteration and cannot be nor can they be justified by any other disease.

Currently, the main characteristic of this disorder is the appearance of symptoms or difficulties that interfere with the normal activity of the person, both motor and sensory, these difficulties are not voluntary and are associated with psychological factors or alterations.

The term conversion is used to refer to the patient's ability to involuntarily transform a psychological alteration into a physical disorder or difficulty. These capabilities can range from simple difficulty or inability to operate some body parts to the use of the senses. For example, it has been documented that in some cases, in some cases to experience an apparent blindness..

As mentioned above, people suffering from this condition do not fake the symptoms, but suffer real distress, so it is not advisable to state in front of the patient that all their difficulties and ailments are inside their head.

Symptoms of conversion disorder

This complex type of disorder can present two types of symptoms, both motor and sensory:

Motor symptoms

• Difficulties in coordination or balance
• Aphonia or impaired ability to make sounds
• Urinary containment problems
• Paralysis or weakening of any body areaThe entire body may be affected.
• Swallowing problems
• Swooning
• Dystonia
• Psychogenic crises or convulsions

Sensory symptoms

• Vision deficits: ablepsia or double vision
• Hearing problems
• Loss of sense of touch

Causes and risk factors

Although the causes of conversion disorder have not been concisely established, it is theorized that the above symptoms are related to the occurrence of some psychological conflict or a stressful event.

The signs usually appear suddenly after a traumatic or stressful experience. It has been observed that patients suffering from this disorder usually also have:

• Physical illnesses
• Dissociative disorders
• Personality disorders

However, conversion disorder can also occur in apparently healthy individuals, and there are a number of risk factors that make these individuals an easy target for this disorder.

• Excessive stress
• Emotional trauma
• Female gender
• Family members with conversion disorders
• Experiences of both physical and sexual abuse

Diagnosis

There are several steps to follow in order to make a proper conversion disorder diagnosis. First of all, a distinction must be made as to whether the person actually has conversion disorder or is faking the symptoms.

Although this can be a complicated task, people with a tendency to feign symptoms often seek to gain some benefit from the feigning, this motivation may be financial, emotional, need for attention, etc.

Next, it is necessary to exclude the possibility that it is the impact of a neurological disease, since this disease usually takes the form of a neurological disorder such as headache, epilepsy or sclerosis.The clinical staff must therefore rule out the possibility of an underlying neurological disease, since this disease usually takes the form of a neurological disorder such as headache, epilepsy or sclerosis.

It is therefore of vital importance that the clinical staff rule out one hundred percent any possibility of an underlying neurological disease, for this the specialist in neurology should perform a thorough examination of the patient.

It is also necessary to eliminate the possibility of another type of disorder, such as factitious disorder or Munchausen's syndrome by proxy. In the former, the person feigns symptoms with the intention of avoiding obligations or being the center of attention; and in the latter, a parent or caregiver creates fictitious symptoms or provokes some real ones in the child.

Finally, and with the aim of making a diagnosis as close as possible, it is necessary that the patient presents the following diagnostic criteria present in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM):

• Presence of one or more difficulties interfering with motor or sensory functions that hint at the presence of a neurological or medical disturbance.
• Existence of previous events, experiences or conflicts that may be associated with the symptomatology.
• The set of symptoms are not consciously or voluntarily provoked.
• The symptomatology is not justified by the presence of another alteration or medical condition, nor by the consumption of substances.nor by the consumption of substances.
• The symptomatology originates a clinically significant, interfering in the different areas of the patient's daily life and requiring medical attention.
• With set of symptoms it is not restricted to Pain or deficits in sexual function does not appear during a somatization disorder and is not due to the onset of another sexual disorder.

Treatment and prognosis

The fundamental point in the treatment of conversion disorder is to suppress or diminish the origin of the stress, or on the other hand to work with the traumatic events that the patient has experienced. to work with the traumatic events that the patient has lived, in order to reduce the level of tension.in order to reduce the level of stress in the patient.

On the other hand, it is necessary to eliminate the secondary gains or benefits that the patient may be obtaining from this behavior, even if he/she is not fully aware of it.

Usually, the symptomatology may subside automatically, lasting from days to weeks, and may last for several weeks.lasting from days to weeks and eventually subside automatically. However, there are a number of resources and interventions which can help the patient. These are:

• Explanation of the disease
• Psychotherapy
• Occupational therapy
• Treatment of other present disorders such as depression or anxiety.