View Full Version : Conversion disorder
I was on Google one night trying to rationalize my "symptoms " (numbness on leg,arm,face,toe) and my leg felt like it was stiff and some parts were numb but not totally numb like my arm and my side of my leg.the numbness only happens for maybe a couple seconds. I was like "yeah this all just anxiety im fine.so I googled Can you Imagine an illness. And poof my heart dropped,I felt myself having a full on panic attack. I started reading about something called Conversion disorder. I couldn't stop shaking. It's where your body converts stress and anxiety into real problems (blindness,paralysis, hearing loss And speech problems) to keep the list short. Anyone can get this,although it is rare I'm still scared.not as much as before,but its in my head nonetheless. Anyone else know about this or have similar fears???? I feel like I'm the only one. I don't think I had a conversation episode because I was having a panic attack at the time,but its still scary that it could happen to just about anyone
If this was even remotely possible most of HA sufferers on here would be incapacitated and hospitalised. The condition may exist but so do a thousand and one others we will never know or experience.
Honestly you have made feel so much better. Bless you.you cool thanx
I was diagnosed this year with functional neurological disorder (FND) which is the same thing.
A psychiatrist or neurologist are the Drs who diagnose this condition
It's one of the somatoform disorders. It just means you have physical symptoms that can't be fully explained by a medical condition; it's psychological distress that manifests physically.
It's one of the somatoform disorders. It just means you have physical symptoms that can't be fully explained by a medical condition; it's psychological distress that manifests physically.
And you would know ;)
And you would know ;)
Well, and aren't you a charming person ...
This disorder usally goes away within days to weeks. Sometimes it's longer,but only in cases of tremors and stuff like that.you just have to get to the root of the psychological stress and it will stop.people only ever have one episode of this once in their lives. It still enters my mind as of right now though.I just posted this to get my thoughts out of my head,and I'm already feeling better.
Claire Weeks was writing about this 40 years ago - how stress and anxiety can manifest in physical symptoms that mimic organic diseases and disorders. We've all gone through this in the early stages of depression and anxiety and as KK7 quite rightly says if there was any substance to this we'd all be bed-ridden in care homes now. The medical service do like to label things though - first time I've seen it under this new name.
Freud refers to "conversion disorder" throughout his writings, so it's not a new term. It's basically what used to be referred to as hysteria.
You have to be pretty F’d up to have this. We’re talking about acute stress, like surviving a plane crash or something to get this. It’s awfully rare. It’s not run of the mill anxiety where you start having some physical symptoms because you’ve fixated on something.
You have to be pretty F’d up to have this. We’re talking about acute stress, like surviving a plane crash or something to get this. It’s awfully rare. It’s not run of the mill anxiety where you start having some physical symptoms because you’ve fixated on something.
That's true. War veterans with severe PTSD would sometimes manifest serious physical afflictions as described in OP. Not a disorder we're likely to ever come across on here fortunately.
I've been diagnosed with some somatoform disorder (I honestly forgot). It was literally just the result of my first panic attack. I felt like I was going to die and my one leg was totally numb, heavy, and dragging. I went to an emergency appointment with a psychiatrist and he said I have this. It's not a big deal, and I try to use it in my therapy to explain all of my weird symptoms.
His is interesting. In my first year of uni, I was so anxious that my face, scalp and arm used to go completely numb. I think it was my brains way of unloading some anxiety.
MyNameIsTerry
25-09-17, 02:18
I was on Google one night trying to rationalize my "symptoms " (numbness on leg,arm,face,toe) and my leg felt like it was stiff and some parts were numb but not totally numb like my arm and my side of my leg.the numbness only happens for maybe a couple seconds. I was like "yeah this all just anxiety im fine.so I googled Can you Imagine an illness. And poof my heart dropped,I felt myself having a full on panic attack. I started reading about something called Conversion disorder. I couldn't stop shaking. It's where your body converts stress and anxiety into real problems (blindness,paralysis, hearing loss And speech problems) to keep the list short. Anyone can get this,although it is rare I'm still scared.not as much as before,but its in my head nonetheless. Anyone else know about this or have similar fears???? I feel like I'm the only one. I don't think I had a conversation episode because I was having a panic attack at the time,but its still scary that it could happen to just about anyone
I'm afraid anyone can get this just as anyone can get many things. I could be in a car accident tomorrow and end up with PTSD. I could get cancer. anyone can experience an episode of psychosis. It unfortunately falls into the "shit happens" element of life that you can't predict and can't stop without living in a bubble away from everything & everyone.
Dissociative Disorders share some of the DP/DR symptoms we get in anxiety. DP/DR is also seen as a way for the body/mind to escape current trauma although in the anxious it tends to just trigger more thought processes of worry over what we are feeling.
But DD's are more extreme than DP/DR in how they manifest. They can manifest in stupors or fugues, amnesia, as well as other things. These types of disorders tend to mean you need more comprehensive treatment that goes beyond anxiety and the person may not even realise it's happening so it may be others bringing doctors in.
I'm not going to post the ICD link on here as I it's a complete manual for every disorder there is. However, in the case of the relevant DD for senses it does state " Loss of vision and hearing are rarely total in dissociative disorders."
It's one of the somatoform disorders. It just means you have physical symptoms that can't be fully explained by a medical condition; it's psychological distress that manifests physically.
I think Kim's talking about Dissociative Disorders here but things like blindness & paralysis are also found in Somatoform Disorders which is part of the sufferer's fake HA term. These are the extreme cases though, not necessarily people hospitalised since the manifestation doesn't require it but these aren't people who "think" they are X, Y or Z as these cases have physical manifestations rather worrying about a disease or at least the cases I've read have (I expect there will be the severe anxiety cases in there too but those people may have no real symptoms)
Somatoform Disorders include what people on here likely know as hypochondria, hypocondriasis, etc but the terminology has been updated in recent years.
There are differences between the US DSM and the WHO ICD though.
This disorder usally goes away within days to weeks. Sometimes it's longer,but only in cases of tremors and stuff like that.you just have to get to the root of the psychological stress and it will stop.people only ever have one episode of this once in their lives. It still enters my mind as of right now though.I just posted this to get my thoughts out of my head,and I'm already feeling better.
That's not always the case with time, it can be chronic too according to WHO so I'm wondering about what you are reading here or whether we are talking differences due to the DSM criterias (I haven't checked those). Dissociative Disorders can be more long running and so can Somatoform Disorders. The latter that experience the extremes you are worrying about are the rarer cases that specialists put in texts.
A UK neurologist wrote a book in recent years talking about her experiences over decades that included Somataform Disorders that were this extreme. I've never mentioned the details of the cases on this board because they are extreme but you have mentioned a couple of them in your OP. To the neurologist the person was completely healthy and passed all tests. She could tell the eyes or limbs were registering just by observing them.
Does any of this sound like what you have experienced or what you are experiencing?
We've had a couple of people on here with DD's (not the HA board though). They stand out a mile. Their experiences were extreme.
Um I don't think dd was what I was thinking about. I m just scared that somehow some way my body with take care of my stress by making me blind or deaf or paralyzed ,(its completely irrational)But yes ik this is one of those things where you really cant worry. I don't think like I said I have ever experienced this,but its still a shitty thing. I'm going to try and take a breather on this. When you type this into Google its on the Rare disorders site. The likleyhood of this happening is literally nothing. It's still a fear and we all know how hard those are to shake thank you guys for all this positive feedback
---------- Post added at 01:43 ---------- Previous post was at 01:40 ----------
And yes these disorders can last sometimes months but that is highly unusual(not dd,just the physical symptoms)
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