convesion disorder

  I was wondering if you could outline the symptoms of a convesion disorder. My teenage daughter has "seizure like" episodes where she just blinks, rolls back her eyes and is incommunicative. Doctors have not been able to obtain any evidence of epileptic activity and are begining to explore some pschological causes. Any imput would be apreciated.
  Joanne

[HFHSMD-TB]

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Dear Joanne,
Conversion Disorder is classified as one of the Somatoform Disorders, which is a group of disorders that includes physical symptoms for which no adequate medical explanation can be found.  Conversion Disorder is characterized by the presence of one or more neurological symptoms which affect voluntary motor or sensory function(example:paralysis, blindness and seizures) that cannot be fully explained by a known neurological or medical disorder.  The diagnosis also requires that psychological factors be associated with the beginning or exacerbation of symptoms.  In Conversion Disorder, the symptom is not intentionally produced or feigned by the patient.  
The most common Conversion Disorder symptoms are paralysis, blindness and mutism.  Pseudoseizures are another symptom and may be difficult to distinguish from a true seizure.  Tongue biting, urinary incontinence and injuries due to falling can occur in psedoseizures, but are usually typical of organic seizures.  One third of patients with pseudoseizures also have coexisting epileptic disorder.  At times organic seizures can be difficult to diagnose. A sleep deprived EEG or telemetry EEG may be helpful.
I would recommend that your daughter see a mental health professional, who will be able to aid her in diagnosis and treatment of her symptoms.  She should also continue to follow with her doctors who have been evaluating her seizure-like activity.  If you daughter would like to follow up with a mental health professional from Henry Ford Hospital, please call 1-313-874-6680 for an appointment.  I hope that this information has been helpful for you.  It is provided for educational purposes only and should not replace consultations with your doctors.