What Is Conversion Disorder?

Exclusions During Diagnosis

Conversion disorder cannot be diagnosed until several exclusions have been made. Doctors need to run tests to prove the symptoms do not have a physical or neurological basis. Diagnosticians must exclude any disorders that could present with similar symptoms. These might include certain types of paralysis, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, or a stroke. Neurological causes must be examined and excluded through a series of different tests and studies. Another thing that must be excluded is feigning. A patient cannot be deliberately feigning or faking their symptoms. However, it's difficult to definitively prove someone is not faking symptoms; it can only be proven they are faking symptoms if they confess. There aren't any clinical techniques that can be relied upon to tell whether a person is lying. For conversion disorder to be diagnosed, these components must be excluded, and a doctor must be able to include a psychological component. Many conversion disorder patients may be misdiagnosed with other illnesses throughout the process, as has been observed in multiple research studies.

Of course, once a diagnosis is reached, treatment must begin. Continue reading to learn about the treatment options available for those with conversion disorder.