Conversion disorder: epidemiology, symptoms and management

Abstract

Conversion disorder is also known as Functional Neurological Symptom disorder or Dissociative disorder. Conversion disorder is largely defined as a psychiatric illness in which symptoms and signs affecting voluntary motor or sensory function cannot be explained by a neurological or general medical condition. Symptoms are believed to be either caused or exacerbated by psychological factors such as conflicts or stress. Quite a number of research works have looked extensively into adequate understanding of this disorder. Conversion disorders are very common but most often misdiagnosed by primary health workers. This is largely due to the typical presenting complaints of neurological symptoms rather than psychiatric symptoms. Conversion disorders are manageable once an accurate diagnosis is made.
Despite the multitude of studies that have been done concerning understanding conversion disorder, knowledge gaps still exist. There is a need for further insights concerning the appropriate therapeutic modality for each patient, predictors of response, dose and duration of various treatment approaches and the value of combination therapy. This can very well be achieved by further research works. This article discusses the epidemiology, symptoms and management of conversion disorder. This review pursuits to explain the extent and scope of conversion disorders, highlighting its epidemiological features, clinical characteristics, management and prognostic factors. Materials used for this writeup were largely from medical journals and published articles on pubmed, google and google search.