Symptoms of conversion disorder can have strong variances between each individual, but the most common are the aforementioned: blindness, numbness, paralysis, and seizures. These symptoms usually occur in episodes, lasting temporarily, but potentially impacting the individual long-term. Multiple symptoms can manifest in a singular individual at once, but not all individuals with conversion disorder experience episodes with multiple symptoms.

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Conversion disorder is a neurological condition in which the individual is seen to experience sensory- or motor-based deficits that cannot be explained by any other known neurological disorders. While this definition seems convoluted, it is the common way that conversion disorder is defined in the clinical setting. The name, “conversion disorder,” comes from the concept of internal emotional and psychological states (which have been repressed) manifesting, or converting, into inexplicable physical symptoms, such as (but not limited to): blindness, numbness, paralysis, and seizures. This disorder is quite hard to diagnose, and tends to be a controversial diagnosis, due to the fact that the underlying psychological issues may be hard to address or discover. 

Conversion Disorder

Conversion disorder is often neglected as a diagnosis, at times due to the controversy of this condition. While people with conversion disorder are truly experiencing paralysis or seizures, many are believed to be faking it due to inconsistencies in the way the symptoms manifest. For example, a person with paralysis episodes may lose control of the left side of their body in one episode, and the right side of their body in another. Seizures will not appear as expected on neurological scans, which causes doctors to question whether or not the person is truly seizing.

Conversion disorder can also be difficult to diagnose, as it might require unpacking the individual’s history of trauma to discover the cause. There are also a lot of protocols for doctors to diagnose conversion disorder, including particular terminology and attitude toward the disease. Previous terminology regarding non-epileptic seizures would deem them “pseudo-seizures,” which tended to imply that they were not real or of the same magnitude. Additionally, it’s important for doctors to recognize that patients may not be receptive to therapy or other mental health treatment options, as they have been repressing trauma and emotions over the course of their lives.

Conversion Disorder: Controversy

Conversion Disorder: Symptoms

A variety of studies have shown that talk therapy or medications to treat psychological disorders ultimately improve symptoms and decrease episodes of conversion disorder more than other techniques. This is due to the fact that these treatments directly target the cause, rather than focusing attention on the physical manifestations. However, there can be a variety of other treatment options to target the said manifestations. Physical therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and hypnosis are common options to treat physical symptoms. Anti-epileptic medications have also been tried on conversion disorder patients with seizures, but they have not been found as an effective treatment method.

Conversion Disorder: Treatment

Criteria for diagnosis of conversion disorder has drastically changed over the years, due to different stigmas and terminology being applied. At this point, conversion disorder can be diagnosed as per the guidelines of the DSM-V.

Individuals diagnosed with conversion disorder must have experienced dysfunction of one or more motor or sensory functions on more than one occasion. This dysfunction cannot be due to any other known conditions, and thus cannot be explained through further scans. Additionally, the symptoms must cause some sort of disruption in daily life, whether through functional or social means.

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