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Mental Health (Expert Forum)
Conversion Disorder
Answered by
Roger Gould, M.D. - Mental Health, Wellness
Questions posted in the Mental Health forum are being answered by Dr. Roger L. Gould, author of the Mastering Stress and Depression program and affiliated with the UCLA. Department of Psychiatry. Topics covered include anger, attention deficit disorder (ADD) , bipolar disorder , dementia , electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) , learning disabilities, memory, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) , panic , personality disorders, phobias , post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , schizophrenia , stress , transitions, and work problems.
Conversion Disorder
by Syd, Mar 29, 2001 12:00AM
Could you please tell me exactly what conversion disorder is and how do you get it and how is it treated. If this is in fact what I have I truly want to get better. I do not enjoy living the way I have been living with all the pain and problems.
I have had a number of neuro type symptoms for a number of years with no concrete evidence of actual neuro problems so they say.
I get the run around from neurologist back to psychiatrist and back to neurologist and back and forth and back and forth.
Firm diagnosis I do have are chronic anemia, fibromyalgia, B-12 deficiency and tachycardia.
I am on a number of medications: Atenolol for the heart, along with nitro as needed, prednisone and Relafen for joint swelling and stiffness, prozac for what they say is depression, monthly B-12 for the rest of my life, Losec for gastric reflux, Maxalt for migraines, potassium and calcium for severe muscle cramping in my legs and Robaxacil C 1/2 for lower spinal pain and was on Propulsid until most recently for motility problem with my gut.
I do not believe that these drugs have just been given to me to passify me and if they have I believe my treatment is lacking considerably. I suffer from a great deal of fatigue and muscle weakness which they say is not there. Is it possible to convert a little part of something but yet have medical problems with other parts?
I am booked to see another psychiatrist next month and I guess it scares me as I honestly believe they don't know enough about his diagnosis here and I don't want to have more pills pushed on me and locked away somewhere because they figure I am a mental case.
I am truly looking for help. One psychiatrist says panic disorder, next one says, no, I belive she has a neuro problem just hasn't manifested, so now we try a third opinion and I feel like a real yoyo.
I just want to be prepared when I see this psychiatrist so if he suggests something I want to be sure I am on the right track, so any information on treatment would be most helpful to me.
Thank you for your time in reading my problem.
Thoroughly confused.
I have had a number of neuro type symptoms for a number of years with no concrete evidence of actual neuro problems so they say.
I get the run around from neurologist back to psychiatrist and back to neurologist and back and forth and back and forth.
Firm diagnosis I do have are chronic anemia, fibromyalgia, B-12 deficiency and tachycardia.
I am on a number of medications: Atenolol for the heart, along with nitro as needed, prednisone and Relafen for joint swelling and stiffness, prozac for what they say is depression, monthly B-12 for the rest of my life, Losec for gastric reflux, Maxalt for migraines, potassium and calcium for severe muscle cramping in my legs and Robaxacil C 1/2 for lower spinal pain and was on Propulsid until most recently for motility problem with my gut.
I do not believe that these drugs have just been given to me to passify me and if they have I believe my treatment is lacking considerably. I suffer from a great deal of fatigue and muscle weakness which they say is not there. Is it possible to convert a little part of something but yet have medical problems with other parts?
I am booked to see another psychiatrist next month and I guess it scares me as I honestly believe they don't know enough about his diagnosis here and I don't want to have more pills pushed on me and locked away somewhere because they figure I am a mental case.
I am truly looking for help. One psychiatrist says panic disorder, next one says, no, I belive she has a neuro problem just hasn't manifested, so now we try a third opinion and I feel like a real yoyo.
I just want to be prepared when I see this psychiatrist so if he suggests something I want to be sure I am on the right track, so any information on treatment would be most helpful to me.
Thank you for your time in reading my problem.
Thoroughly confused.
Doctor's Answer
by Roger Gould, M.D., Mar 30, 2001 12:00AM
, Mar 30, 2001 12:00AM
You are right to be confused. These symptoms, and all of the pai n,are confusing to both you and your doctors. In the cases I have treated like this, I have usually found that there are some real physical causes alongside an extremely high level of anxiety. The anxiety makes the physical symptoms worse, and the physical symptoms make the anxiety worse...so each feeds a stead escalating stew of pain and dysfunction, too many doctors and too many medications.
What you need is one good psychiatrist and one good internist working together to sort this out. You also need to understand, that once this starts, the symptoms take over and become a way of communicating other life conflicts. Your job is to face your life conflicts squarely and talk to someone about them so you feel you are becoming calmer, more clear and more honest with yourself.
Conversion is just a fancy way of saying you are talking through your symptoms rather than through conscious thinking.
What you need is one good psychiatrist and one good internist working together to sort this out. You also need to understand, that once this starts, the symptoms take over and become a way of communicating other life conflicts. Your job is to face your life conflicts squarely and talk to someone about them so you feel you are becoming calmer, more clear and more honest with yourself.
Conversion is just a fancy way of saying you are talking through your symptoms rather than through conscious thinking.
