BY: Sarah Chau Tania Guzman CONVERSION DISORDER BY: Sarah Chau Tania Guzman

Case 1 A 23 -year-old healthy woman without any medical history suddenly complained of pain in her right forearm and numbness in her hand. She could not make a fist and her fingers remained in an unnatural position. She complained of numbness but her sensory function was normal. There was also pain and tenderness in the forearm, but no swelling, stiffness or indurations. MRI testings did not reveal any pathological focus in the forearm and physical in imaging findings did not clarify the problems. The patients symptoms gradually began to resolve 1 month after starting rehabilitation and had disappeared after 2 months. She was forced to stop playing the piano; which she was very passionate about. She later discovered that her Uncle suffered from this disorder too.

Conversion Disorder…. A type of somatoform disorder, marked by paralysis, weakness, or loss of sensation but with no discernible physical cause in other words….. Conversion disorder is a condition in which a person has blindness, paralysis, or other nervous system symptoms that cannot be explained by medical evaluation.

Theories on the development of the disorder… Stress is one of the main reason this happens.

Treatment of the disorder For many people, symptons of conversion disorder get better without treatment, especially after reassurance from the doctor that their symptons arent caused by a serious underlying problem Talk therapy (psychotherapy) and stress management training may help reduce symptoms. The affected body part or physical function will need physical or occupational therapy until the symptoms disappear. For example, paralyzed limbs must be exercised to prevent muscle wasting.

Facts…  relatively rare disorder with a rate of about 150 in 100,000 people  usually people get this disorder between the ages of 10 -35 years old Hysterical neurosis is another name for this

References http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRzytAhu0hg&feature=related http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000954.htm http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbQK8ucIcAw http://www.nethealthbook.com/articles/conversiondisorder.php http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC539597/