Conversion Disorder was known as hysteria in olden days and is a psychiatric disorder belonging to the category of somatoform disorders. The four sub-types of conversion disorder based on the symptoms are sensory, motor, seizure or convulsion and mixed. In this disorder, the patient exhibits symptoms of physical breakdown without any underlying pathological evidence. The symptoms of conversion disorder are quite similar to neurological disorders such as numbness, lack of sensation, paralysis, convulsions, aphonia, mutism, blindness etc. yet there is no organic explanation for any of these symptoms. For this reason, conversion disorder is considered to be one of the most inexplicable prototypes in psychology.

Diagnosis of conversion disorder:

The accurate diagnosis of this disorder is extremely difficult as most of the symptoms point towards almost every known disease. However, certain criteria have been determined to distinguish it from other disorders:

The individual usually describes the symptoms of the ailment in a rather matter of fact way and exhibits little anxiety than would be expected from a paralyzed or blind individual.

The symptoms of the disease or disorder cannot be clearly confirmed.

The nature of the disorder is usually selective. For instance, a blind person will not bump into objects or individuals all the time or the paralyzed individual is capable of performing certain tasks.

The symptoms usually disappear under hypnosis or narcosis.

If the person is woken up from deep sleep all of a sudden the symptoms may disappear.

Symptoms of conversion disorder

There are three main categories in which the symptoms of conversion disorder have been divided:

Sensory Symptoms: Any of the senses can be involved in conversion disorder. These include akinesia (loss of sensitivity),hypethesia (partial loss of sensitivity), hyperthesia (excessive sensitivity), analgesia (loss of sensitivity to pain) and paresthesia (exceptional sensations such as tingling or heat).

Motor Symptoms: Paralysis conversion reaction tops the list of motor symptoms and is usually confined to a single arm or leg and the loss of function is selective. Occasional symptoms include flexing of the fingers, toes or rigidity of the larger joints such as knees and elbows. Speech related conversion dysfunctions include aphonia and mutism. Individuals may also experience convulsions that are similar to those in epilepsy.

Visceral symptoms: These include lumps in the throat, choking, vomiting, belching, hiccups, sneezing, cough spells, difficulty in breathing and cold and damp extremities.