Conversion disorder – causes, symptoms, conversion device treatment

Illness or pretense?

How do they usually treat those who complain of illness, but upon examination it turns out that they are healthy? Many will say that this person is a malingerer, but they will be wrong. Doctors know that sometimes a physically healthy person experiences disturbances in various body functions. This phenomenon is called "conversion disorder."

The human psyche is very complex. In some cases, social conflicts, internal contradictions, stressful situations or psychological trauma lead to a person feeling overwhelmed and sick. He experiences pain and symptoms of illness, sometimes even paralysis occurs. For a long time, imaginary sensations and signs were called hysteria and treated as a pretense. Only at the end of the 19th century did Jean Martin Charcot prove that patients actually experience symptoms of non-existent diseases. It was from this time that official medicine recognized that hysterical conversion disorder is a disease.

Sigmund Freud, who interned with J.M. Charcot, made his contribution to the study of the disease. The young psychologist was looking for connections between conscious and unconscious, “closed” memories. In the process of communicating with patients, Freud developed a special method, called psychoanalysis, which allows one to release “closed” memories and eliminate the causes of the disease.

Brief classification of conversion disorders

Psychiatrists have proposed the following division of conversion disorders, based on the predominance of certain symptoms:

• Dissociative amnesia, fugue and stupor.
• Possession and trance.
• Movement and sensation disorders, including dissociative convulsions, loss of sensitivity, conversion aphonia.
• Mixed dissociative conversion disorders. This is a pathological condition in which a combination of symptoms of several forms of conversion disorder is possible.
• Ganser syndrome is a hysterical stupefaction.
• Transient (temporary) dissociative symptoms. Mostly found in childhood.
• Other conversion disorders. These include twilight and psychogenic confusion.

In the modern classification there is no concept of hysteria or hysterical neurosis - hysterical conversion symptoms can be observed in various forms of the disease.

Why is this happening

Conversion disorder is most often seen in children, young adults and the elderly. The reason is that people are the most emotionally sensitive during this period of life. However, girls and women are more susceptible to the disease than boys and men.

As a result of a strong psychological shock, an internal conflict occurs, and the patient cannot correctly assess the current situation. Conversion disorder can be caused by an underestimation of one’s own importance, an attempt to “shield” from difficult problems, or the need to make important decisions or take responsibility. All this happens against a background of stress, and the psyche “turns on” the disease.

Initially, the symptoms were limited to fainting, hysterical fits, paralysis and mental disorders. However, in a study of a complex mental illness called conversion disorder, the symptoms were more widespread. It was determined that the effects of the disease can be felt by any organ. A deeper analysis made it possible to divide the symptoms into four separate groups.

Conversion disorder: how it manifests and is treated – Suppressed

As you know, a person is a very receptive and emotional creature. Everyone endures any stressful situations, conflicts and psychological trauma in their own way. Sometimes it can be tears, resentment, anxiety or isolation.

But sometimes a human reaction can be so unpredictable that it should be classified as a mental disorder. It is precisely such deviations that conversion disorder should be classified as.

In this article we will look at what this disease is.

What it is

Until now, doctors have not established exactly what this disease is, since it manifests itself quite individually. However, conversion disorder is a condition in which a person’s motor and sensory functions are impaired.

As a result, physiological disturbances begin to occur. However, according to scientists, the disease as such does not exist. There is only its imitation.

In other words, a person only thinks that he is sick, but in fact, everything is in order with his physiological state.

Conversion disorder was first considered in the nineteenth century. Before this it was considered hysteria. Previously it was believed that such a disease did not exist at all. There was an opinion that the patients were only pretending.

The main causes of this disease

Conversion disorder is considered an ailment limited to the elderly and children. Also, according to statistics, it most often occurs in females. Persons with an unstable emotional state are susceptible to it.

After a strong psychological shock, a conflict occurs within a person, so the patient cannot correctly and soberly assess the current situation.

Most often, such a disorder is a consequence of a decrease in one’s own importance, as well as a fear of making important decisions and a desire to hide from life’s problems.

Such phenomena can occur against a background of stress, so the psyche tries to protect itself in this way.

At first, the symptoms of this disease were limited to loss of consciousness, hysteria, mental disorders and paralysis. However, over time, scientists were able to find out that absolutely all human organs can “sick” as a result of stressful conditions. Therefore, several groups of this disease have been identified, which differ in their symptoms.

Motor symptoms

Somatoform disorder can manifest itself in a variety of movements. The symptoms of this group are the most extensive and most common.

In this case, the complexity of the symptoms can range from simple (impaired walking) to very complex (paralysis). Some patients experience uncontrollable seizures.

That is, a person who has experienced a stressful situation may fall, start screaming and jerk his limbs.

Such seizures can last from several minutes to several hours. And the reasons for their occurrence can be very diverse. For example, a sudden very loud sound, a flash of light, an unexpected human action and many other stimuli.

Sensory impairments

• This includes any symptoms that are directly related to the human senses. Symptoms manifest differently in all patients:
• — someone’s sensitivity threshold decreases or, conversely, increases; cases of complete numbness were observed, that is, no pain was felt at all;
• - some patients stopped feeling hot or cold;
• - disturbances in taste, smell or hearing may occur.

Sensory impairment can vary in degree and duration. Each case is individual.

Autonomic disorders

Somatoform disorder can also have a vegetative nature. In this case, the symptoms are muscle spasms, which are responsible for supplying blood vessels.

Thus, this disease can take the form of absolutely any other disease. After going to the hospital, the patient will undergo many tests and undergo various tests.

And it is not immediately possible to identify that he has dissociative conversion disorders. Therefore, starting treatment can be very difficult.

Conversion disorder: psychiatry

The symptoms of the mental group can also be very diverse. In simple cases, patients have only harmless fantasies. But in more complex ones, hallucinations and split personality may occur.

What is split personality

In fact, it is very difficult for even the most experienced psychiatrist to make such a diagnosis. After all, it can easily be confused with schizophrenia, or with ordinary quackery, when a person tries to pretend to be sick in order to avoid punishment.

To determine and confirm this diagnosis, doctors rely on the following four criteria:

1. It is very important to establish that the person is not under the influence of drugs or alcohol, or any other toxic substances. In addition, doctors must determine that the patient does not have other mental illnesses.
2. The patient has at least two different personalities, each with its own damage and certain views on life.
3. In this case, each of the individuals must alternately exercise control over the condition of the sick person.
4. The patient does not remember important information about his life.

Factors associated with the occurrence of this disease

Conversion disorder, the symptoms of which are described in this article, has certain development factors, based on which the doctor can come to the conclusion whether such a disease is possible in a particular person.

First of all, experts pay attention to age. Such phenomena most often occur in children under six years of age, as well as in persons after forty years of age.

It is very important to pay attention to the gender of the patient. Women are much more likely to be exposed to stressful situations. Also, according to statistics, people living in villages are more likely to suffer from such disorders than those living in urban areas.

It is worth paying attention to the level of education. People with higher education have conversion disorders much less often.

Studying family history plays a very important role. Children whose parents responded inappropriately to stressful situations are more prone to such disorders.

And, of course, it is worth considering that the cause of this disorder is the body’s reaction to a stressful situation.

Treatment methods

Treatment of conversion disorders is a very complex and lengthy process. To implement it correctly, you need to approach the treatment of this disease in a comprehensive manner. Doctors recommend using different therapy methods.

There are no specially created medications for the treatment of this disorder, but still doctors very often recommend taking the drug “Carbamazepine” in the treatment of conversion disorder. Medications may be prescribed to relieve anxiety and also combat depression.

Psychotherapy

No matter how hard the doctor tries to cure this disease, it is impossible to do this without eliminating the factors that provoke it.

After all, if you influence the symptoms without establishing the exact cause, then it will be impossible to achieve a long-term and lasting result.

Experts recommend that patients change their environment, as well as regularly conduct psychotherapy sessions. In this way, the patient can be convinced that his illness is only psychological in nature.

A correct psychological analysis will make it possible to accurately establish a diagnosis and immediately begin a course of treatment.

Group therapy is sometimes provided and focuses on coping strategies as well as social skills. This method is very effective for treating adolescents.

Treatment in a hospital setting

Inpatient treatment is most often prescribed for children who have not responded to other types of therapy. In a hospital setting, specialists will be able to more accurately recognize the symptoms of the disease and provide more appropriate mental support. Typically, during such therapy, the patient's condition improves significantly, since the patient is out of dysfunctional conditions.

Additional treatments

Don't forget that there are also mixed conversion disorders. All of them are completely curable with the correct diagnosis. The main treatment for these types of disorders is psychotherapy, but other methods exist. Doctors very rarely prescribe medications. These are mainly antidepressants.

Treatment with hypnosis, various relaxation and visualization techniques also show good results.

Criteria for disorders

1. Psychiatrists have identified several criteria by which one can understand that a person has conversion disorder.
   Let's look at which ones:
2. — the patient has several symptoms (or one) that have a negative impact on the senses;

• - the cause of such violations is a stressful situation;
• - it is very important to determine that the symptoms are not invented by the patient himself;
• — the patient’s condition prevents him from working and studying, as well as from being in a socialized society;
• - this condition is not a consequence of other mental disorders.

Forecast and preventive measures

In fact, according to experts, forecasts regarding a complete cure for this disease are very comforting.

Those people who can accurately identify stressors, and also have short time intervals between symptoms, usually recover much faster. Usually the treatment process lasts from two weeks, in some cases it can take about a year.

However, about twenty percent of cases may have relapses. Some symptoms may resolve on their own and do not lead to a chronic condition.

In adults, the frequency of conversion disorders decreases significantly with increasing levels of education, as well as when they are informed about human psychology.

Almost any disease, including conversion disorder, is considered curable if treatment measures are taken on time.

If you notice the first symptoms in yourself or your child, go to the hospital immediately. However, be prepared that making a diagnosis will not be so easy.

After all, the symptoms of this disease are very numerous and are also similar to the symptoms of other diseases.

Take care of yourself, exercise, eat right and walk more in the fresh air. As soon as you notice that stress is approaching, begin to relax or find other methods for dealing with depressive conditions. Be healthy.

Source:

Conversion disorder: causes, symptoms and treatment

Conversion is the process of rejecting the mental content of the subconscious, replacing it with bodily forms of manifestation of various phenomena.

This is where the name of such a syndrome as conversion disorder comes from - this is a mental reaction in which, against the background of stressful situations, depression and resentment, they are replaced at a subconscious level, leading to the development of symptoms of physiological disorders and diseases in the body.

articles:

• Definition of the syndrome
• Reasons for development
• Symptoms
• Treatment

Definition of the syndrome

Conversion disorder (hysterical conversion, hysteria) is a psychological disease, a special type of personality disorder. Also, the phenomenon is called dissociative conversion disorder.

With this syndrome, a person’s sensory or motor functions are impaired, for this reason he begins to notice real symptoms of various diseases.

In fact, there are no functional disorders in the body, despite their obvious symptoms, and the person feels sick (the subconscious mind replaces stressful situations with imitation diseases).

At first, the French doctor, neurologist J.-M., was actively studying this syndrome. Charcot, he gave the phenomenon the name hysterical conversion. In the course of observing his patients suffering from the disorder, he found that patients were not faking illness, they were actually suffering from the symptoms of various diseases that did not actually exist.

Source: https://glpni.ru/fobii/konversionnoe-rasstrojstvo-kak-proyavlyaetsya-i-lechitsya.html

Motor group of symptoms

The first and most extensive group of symptoms affects or limits motor functions. The complexity of symptoms can vary: from gait disturbances to paralysis. Conversion disorder is often associated with uncontrollable seizures that occur suddenly in response to external stimulation. The patient may fall, scream, jerk his arms or legs, bend unnaturally and roll on the floor. Such movement disorders last from several hours to several minutes, and can be caused by a sharp loud sound, the appearance of a new person, a flash of light and other irritants.

Symptoms of Conversion Disorder

Physical, emotional or sexual abuse may be a contributing cause of conversion disorder in adults and children. 32% of patients have a history of depression or sexual abuse, and 44% have recently experienced divorce, the death of a loved one, or an argument. In the adult population, conversion disorders may be associated with mobbing, a term used by psychiatrists and psychologists to describe psychological violence in the workplace. Conversion disorder can develop in adults as a consequence of childhood problems.

In general, the symptoms of conversion disorder are not under a person's conscious control and are often frightening. Symptoms of the disease usually have an acute onset, but sometimes worsen gradually.

Forms and types of conversion violations

The most common forms of conversion disorder include:

Pseudoparalysis

The victim is unable to use half of his body or a limb. The condition does not correspond to anatomical models and often changes with repeated examination.

Pseudosensory syndrome

Patients often complain of numbness or lack of sensation in various parts of the body. Sensory loss typically corresponds to the patient's knowledge of anatomy rather than to the known characteristics of the person's nervous system.

Pseudo-seizures

These are the most severe symptoms of conversion disorder and are difficult to distinguish from their real-life equivalents. Between five and 35 percent of people with pseudoseizures also have epilepsy. An electroencephalogram or measurement of serum prolactin levels helps the doctor distinguish this condition from epileptic seizures.

Pseudocoma

Also a difficult condition, since true coma may indicate a life-threatening disorder, and the patient must be treated with standard methods of its treatment.

Psychogenic movement disorders

May mimic myoclonus, parkinsonism, dystonia, dyskinesia and tremor. Doctors sometimes give patients with suspected psychogenic movement disorders placebo medications.

Pseudo-blindness

It is one of the most common forms of vision-related conversion disorders. Placing a mirror in front of the patient and turning it from side to side can often be used to identify false symptoms, as people tend to follow the reflection of their eyes with their gaze.

False double vision

The diagnosis of false double vision can usually be made by examining the patient's eyes.

Pseudoptosis

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Pseudoptosis, or drooping upper eyelid, is a common symptom of myasthenia gravis and several other disorders. The diagnosis of pseudoptosis can be made based on examination of the eyebrows.

Hysterical aphonia

Aphonia refers to the loss of the ability to produce sounds. In hysterical aphonia, the patient's cough and whisper are normal, and examination of the throat shows normal movement of the vocal cords.

Sensory group of symptoms of dissociative disorders

This group includes all symptoms associated with human sensitivity. Sensory impairments can manifest themselves in different ways:

• violation of the sensitivity threshold, at which the pain threshold may increase or decrease. Numbness may occur, in which sensitivity to pain disappears altogether;
• a violation of temperature perception, in which a person ceases to feel hot;
• deafness;
• change in taste;
• manifestations of blindness;
• impaired sense of smell.

All these symptoms can be more or less pronounced and last for different periods of time.

Criteria for conversion disorders

Mental health professionals identify six criteria for diagnosing conversion disorders:

• the patient has one or more symptoms affecting feelings or movements suggesting a neurological or general medical disorder,
• the onset or worsening of symptoms was preceded by conflict or stress,
• the symptoms of the disease are not intentionally produced,
• the symptoms of the disease cannot be fully explained as the result of a general medical disorder, the use of a substance or a culturally related behavior,
• symptoms of the disease are severe enough to interfere with school, work or social relationships, or severe enough to require medical evaluation,
• symptoms of the disorder are not limited to pain or sexual dysfunction, do not occur only in the context of somatization disorder, and are not explained by another mental disorder.

Dissociative identity disorder

Despite its frequent mention in detective novels and action-packed films, split personality, the symptoms and signs of which the authors use, is a rather rare disease. Even an experienced psychiatrist can find it difficult to accurately establish a diagnosis without confusing it with manifestations of schizophrenia or a person’s attempts to act out an illness in order to avoid responsibility or punishment for a crime.

Previously, the diagnosis used the name “multiple personality disorder.” But today this diagnosis was abandoned. The official name used is “dissociative identity disorder.” But most often this subtype of disorder is called “split personality”. Symptoms and signs of the disease are diagnosed according to four criteria:

1. The patient has two or more personality conditions. Each person has his own model of behavior, a separate worldview and his own attitude to the world around him.
2. Internal personalities alternately gain control over the patient's behavior.
3. The patient has no memories of important events in his life, does not remember important facts.
4. The patient's condition is not caused by alcohol or drugs. The patient has not experienced exposure to toxic substances and has not been diagnosed with other mental illnesses.

When diagnosing multiple personality disorder in children, psychiatrists often encounter manifestations of violent fantasy, prolonged games and imaginary friends.

Group conversion disorders

Although conversion disorder most often occurs in individuals, it sometimes occurs in groups. One such case occurred in 1997 in three young men and six women in Colombia. The young people believed they were under a spell or curse and had dissociative symptoms of illness that were not treated by antipsychotic medications and herbal remedies. However, they were successfully helped in the future by shamans from their ethnic group. This episode relates to the psychological stress resulting from rapid cultural change.

Another example of group conversion disorder occurred in Iran in 1992. Ten girls from the same class could not move normally after receiving a tetanus vaccination. Although local doctors successfully treated the girls, public health immunization programs had an immediate negative impact. One explanation for group conversion disorder is that the person who is more susceptible to the disorder tends to suffer more from suggestion.

How is the treatment carried out?

If a patient is diagnosed with conversion disorder, treatment should begin immediately. The first stage is eliminating the traumatic factor. No matter how hard the doctor tries to influence the symptoms of the disease, if the main cause is not identified, then there will be no lasting effect.

A change of environment is beneficial for the patient. The main treatment is psychotherapy sessions. In addition, the patient must be convinced that his illness is psychological. This will help you get the right mindset for treatment and speed up your recovery.

A good psychoanalyst is able to identify conversion personality disorder and determine the optimal course of treatment. The use of medications is often not required. Drug therapy is only necessary if the patient is depressed. To relieve anxiety and depression, the doctor may prescribe a course of tranquilizers or antidepressants.

The likelihood of a full recovery is quite high. It all depends on the professionalism of the doctor and the timeliness of assistance. However, in some cases there are relapses, and sometimes conversion disorders are observed throughout a person's life.

Conversion hysteria: symptoms, treatment

“Malingerer, pretender!” These hurtful words are often addressed to people who spend most of their lives queuing at doctors' offices. Today this person goes to see a surgeon, tomorrow to a therapist, the day after tomorrow to an immunologist. Complaints can be different - from hearing loss to sudden seizures, but they have one thing in common.

None of the tests confirms the presence of a somatic (physical) disease. So, is it still a deception, a simulation? But these people really believe that they are seriously ill. The fact that the symptoms are phantom in nature and caused by the power of autosuggestion does not alleviate their condition. The disease from which they suffer belongs to the group of dissociative (conversion) disorders.

The term most often used when making a diagnosis is conversion hysteria.

Conversion hysteria is not uncommon. In the list of the most common mental disorders, this disease is in sixth place. This fact made it possible to thoroughly study the causes, symptoms and features of the course of K.I.

Causes of psychosomatic disorder conversion hysteria

Trigger and classification of conversion disorders (conversion hysteria)

When the patient’s emotional experiences become unbearable, they begin to transform (“conversion” - change

) into somatic and neurological symptoms.

But during the diagnostic process, it turns out that the disorder is of a psychomatic nature, and therefore cannot cause disturbances in the functioning of human organs. But then people suffering from K.I. A reasonable question arises: “What hurts me then?” There is an answer, and it is quite simple.

The fact is that a person’s emotional state and well-being are closely interrelated. With nervous overstrain, the body is always in a state of stress. This causes a disorder in the functioning of the autonomic nervous system.

Disturbances in nervous regulation lead to increased heart rate, increased production of adrenaline, and spasms of blood vessels. All of the above processes cause the symptoms that patients with conversion disorders complain about - loss of sensitivity, pain, nausea.

Depending on the symptoms manifested, it was customary to divide conversion disorders into 4 groups.

1. Motor
   . Symptoms: dissociative tremor, gait disturbances, convulsions, involuntary twitching of the limbs, chills.
2. Sensory.
   Deafness, blindness, loss of speech, loss of sensitivity in parts of the body, neuralgia of various locations.
3. Vegetative.
   Nausea, dizziness, cramps.
4. Dissociative.
   Caused by memory impairment, loss of self.

It has been noted that conversion symptoms reflect the essence of the emotional problem that caused them. Here is a real case from medical practice:

Kolya’s mother died early, and he, along with his two older sisters, remained with his father. He was a tough, even cruel man, and raised his children in fear and complete obedience. When one of the sisters was 20 years old, she became pregnant. Her father kicked her out of the house.

Kolya came home from school and wanted to stand up for his sister, but the father looked at his son so much that he lost his voice for several days and could only wheeze. A year later the situation repeated itself. The second sister married a guy who her father categorically did not like. Her parent also disowned her.

This time Kolya was unable to express his anger and pain to his father. The result was that the guy became numb again, and this time his voice never returned. At the age of 22, the guy began visiting a psychotherapist and he was able to help him. But, as the doctor expected, the return of his voice plunged the man into a prolonged depression.

The mute syndrome was a compensatory mechanism that helped the boy survive the separation from his sisters. When he was gone, the emotional experiences returned in full.

Why voice? The child wanted to tell his father that he was a scoundrel, but fear closed his mouth. The unrealized desire to speak out hit his psyche so hard that he lost his voice. If Kolya wanted to beat his father, and his consciousness, time after time, stopped this intention, then the internal conflict could result in a conversion loss of sensitivity in his hands, etc.

Conversion hysteria and its dissociative disorders - amnesia, fugue, multiple personality syndrome

Memory, consciousness, awareness of a person as an individual - all these parameters are integrated into the human psyche as a single whole, dependent on each other. If one of the “building blocks” falls out, dissociative disorder begins to develop.

• Psychogenic amnesia. As a result of stress, the patient may lose some event, episode, or even complete information about his past life from memory. The person is aware of the fact of amnesia. He is confused and disoriented, although he can do simple work and retains his ability to remember.
• Dissociative fugue. A mental state that is accompanied by selective amnesia. Arises as a defense mechanism after severe psychological trauma. Lasts from several days to 2..3 months. The fugue takes place in two stages:

Stage 1: The person enters an altered hypnoid state. He does not remember his past life and begins to build his personality from scratch. When leaving this state (usually in the morning, after sleep), the patient experiences a strong shock, since the memory also returns the cause of the psychotrauma.

Stage 2. Memories that happened to the person during the fugue become inaccessible. The only way to get them out of consciousness is through hypnosis.

One day, Sergei Ivanovich paid the next installment on the loan and decided to take a steam bath with his friends in a new bathhouse, outside the city. In the bathhouse they called him. When the friends returned from the steam room, he was no longer there. The phone and documents remain.

Detectives hired by relatives found Sergei Ivanovich a few weeks later in one of the southern cities of Russia. Ragged and dirty, he slept in the station building. The man knew the names of the rivers of Russia and how “mental disturbance” was translated, but had no idea what his name was or where he lived.

After several hypnotherapy sessions, he remembered his past life. The first thing he did after coming out of his trance was scream terribly. It turned out that before the fugue state overtook him, he was informed by telephone about the sudden death of his little son.

The child grew up in another family and the man did not tell anyone close to him about him. The death of the baby was such a strong shock for the man that it caused dissociative amnesia.

• Multiple personality syndrome. It occurs as a psychological defense mechanism in people who were subjected to emotional or sexual abuse in childhood. The patient moves away from the internal conflict, beginning to perceive the past and present indirectly, through the personalities that supposedly exist in his mind.

In life, this mental disorder is extremely rare, but in cinema and literature at almost every turn. Most recently, the thriller “Split” was released, where up to 20 independent personalities coexist in the body of the main character, and not all of them are white and fluffy.

Conversion hysteria. Diagnosis and treatment

Making a diagnosis of “conversion hysteria” can cause certain difficulties, since:

A) it is impossible to immediately exclude a somatic disease.

B) in 40% of cases, conversion hysteria is accompanied by more severe mental illnesses.

C) the patient can feign illness, or, in order to attract attention, deliberately intensify existing symptoms.

To clarify the diagnosis, a series of biochemical tests are performed, the patient undergoes diagnostics using an electroencephalograph, tomograph, and X-ray machine.

Drug treatment

Medicines are prescribed if the patient is in a state of prolonged depression or experiences severe anxiety. Registered:

• Antidepressants: fluoxetine, paroxetine, paroxetine, amitriptyline.
• Neuroleptics: alimemazine, teraligen.
• Preparations of bromine and valerian. Strengthen the nervous system and calm irritability. If the patient suffers from prolonged insomnia, then barbiturates are prescribed.
• B vitamins (riboflavin, niacin, pyridoxine). They normalize the biochemical processes of the brain, promote neuronal regeneration, and relieve anxiety and excitability.

Psychotherapy methods

• Triggers are identified—psychotraumatic factors that served as the root cause of conversion hysteria.
  But is it worth bringing them to the surface... The doctor decides this question individually each time. Conversion disorder is a safety valve that is triggered when the psyche cannot cope with overstrain. Take it away, and who knows whether the patient’s thoughts will swing towards suicide.
• Methods of direct and indirect suggestion (suggestion) are used.
  When working with hysterical patients, it is better to carry out the influence face to face. The doctor’s task is to convince the patient with hysteria that his illness is temporary and serious progress is already being made. Hypnosis is prescribed very carefully (it has many contraindications).
• Cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. During the sessions, the patient learns to objectively assess his emotions and take steps to reduce their intensity.

The prognosis for conversion hysteria is favorable (with the exception of multiple personality syndrome), but you should know that the longer the patient is in the role of a patient, the worse the treatment will progress. Again, when the doctor and relatives manage to remove the cause of the secondary benefit, the healing process will significantly speed up.

Source: https://7psihozov.ru/slaboumie/konversionnaya-isteriya-simptomy-lechenie.html

Treatment

As with any other psychological illness, treatment for conversion disorder must be as careful and carefully planned as possible. If the patient is told that all his symptoms are fiction, there is a high risk of worsening the situation.

Modern medicine recognizes complex treatment of dissociative seizures, which involves pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy.

These directions are equal in importance and are aimed at eliminating symptoms. Their character is rather pathogenetic, but clearly not etiotropic. The time factor can also have a therapeutic effect and drug improvement can contribute to stable remission.

1. Psychotherapy in this particular case should be aimed at correctly determining the situation in which the patient finds himself. This is done in order to quietly and carefully eliminate the factors that provoke the disease. It is equally important to determine the benefit that the patient receives from the disorder. Yes, hypnosis is considered to be the most effective.
2. Drug treatment is most important in severe cases of remission or relapses. Among the popular psychopharmacological agents are tranquilizers, neuroleptics, thymoleptics, nootropic drugs, as well as psychostimulants and antidepressants.

The main role in successful treatment is played by timely initiation, since the longer the disorder lasts, the more rapidly the chances of recovery decrease.

Conversion is the process of rejecting the mental content of the subconscious, replacing it with bodily forms of manifestation of various phenomena. This is where the name of such a syndrome as conversion disorder comes from - this is a mental reaction in which, against the background of stressful situations, depression and resentment, they are replaced at a subconscious level, leading to the development of symptoms of physiological disorders and diseases in the body.

Conversion disorder (hysterical conversion) is a psychological disease of a special type. Also, the phenomenon is called dissociative conversion disorder. With this syndrome, a person’s sensory or motor functions are impaired, for this reason he begins to notice real symptoms of various diseases. In fact, there are no functional disorders in the body, despite their obvious symptoms, and the person feels sick (the subconscious mind replaces stressful situations with imitation diseases).

At first, the French doctor, neurologist J.-M., was actively studying this syndrome. Charcot, he gave the phenomenon the name hysterical conversion. In the course of observing his patients suffering from the disorder, he found that patients were not faking illness, they were actually suffering from the symptoms of various diseases that did not actually exist.

Later, information about the disorder appeared in the works of S. Freud, who explained that the mental energy of a patient with conversion disorder is transformed into somatic energy. Replacing depressive states with the subconscious leads to fantasies about bodily illness and the development of a clinical picture of conversion.

The syndrome is manifested by a loss of conscious control over memory and sensations, as well as over the motor function of the body. In dissociative disorders, the control process is so impaired that it can change daily and even hourly. It is difficult to find out how damaged the functions of consciousness control over the body are; it has been established that conversion personality disorder is characterized by a close temporary connection with traumatic events in life, conflict situations, breakup of relationships with a partner and other events unbearable for the psyche.

Correction of the disorder

Methods of psychotherapy and psychocorrection for conversion disorders are usually sought when it comes to comorbid conversion and somatoform disorders. There are a lot of such patients. Their personality is not split and there are no problems with memory as with psychogenic amnesia. This is a cunning web of constant complaints about a variety of symptoms of somatic diseases, real pain, shortness of breath or tachycardia, mood swings and incomprehensible types of vascular disorders. And here the external symptoms are very confused and diverse. In this case, some somatic diseases may actually be present. Let's add to this something purely from the field of mental disorders - panic attacks, anxiety disorder or the effect of derealization, and we get a picture of a supposedly new type of patient. This is not entirely true. There have been many such patients at all times, it’s just that in the second half of the 20th century and in the 21st they began to come across too often, so they created the illusion of novelty.

Worth seeing: Ludomania

With somatic diseases, everything is simpler than it might seem. We conduct an examination and treat what requires treatment - be it osteochondrosis or gastritis. Of course, if something is confirmed by clinical tests and analyses. There are no special problems with somatoforms either. There is no need to do anything at all, because they don’t exist. In some cases, drug treatment with psychoactive drugs must be carried out according to the scheme - we seem to be treating, but we are not seriously doing anything. Some mild antidepressants. The only exceptions can be those cases when patients are also clearly depressed or have a clear anxiety disorder.

Mild antidepressants may be used to treat disorders

As for psychotherapy, theoretically it should have been aimed at restoring integrity. In practice these are just general words. We know that 90% of this is a protective mechanism and we see that in this case it turned on inadequately. Ideally, you need to explain to the psyche, not to the patient himself, that the mechanism is being used for other purposes and ask her to turn it off. The author knows nothing in this area other than dynamic psychotherapy. Depending on the imagination, contact, openness or closedness of the patient, it is necessary to develop methods. The use of suggestion is not excluded. All this, of course, is quite complicated, but it can be very effective.