An investigation into the preferred terminology for functional seizures.

There is considerable debate in the literature regarding what to call functional seizures, with terms such as pseudoseizures, nonepileptic attack disorder (NEAD), and dissociative seizures being used. Provision of an accurate diagnosis and coherent explanation is a vital first step in the management of functional seizures and can result in cessation or reduced frequency for some individuals. This study investigated preferences for and offensiveness of terms used to describe functional seizures, and expectations for recovery with psychological treatment. A sample of 87 healthy adults completed an online survey, in which eight different diagnostic terms were ranked in order of preference (1 - most preferred, 8 - least preferred): functional nonepileptic attacks (FNEA), dissociative seizures, functional seizures, psychogenic seizures, NEAD, pseudoseizures, conversion disorder, and hysteria. Replicating Stone and colleagues protocol, each term was investigated for five connotations. Offense scores were calculated from the number of participants who selected 'yes' to at least one of the negative connotations ('Putting it on', 'Mad', and 'Imagining Symptoms'). Expectations about the possibility of recovering through medical or psychological treatment were also recorded. Functional nonepileptic attack was ranked the highest preferred term with dissociative seizures and functional seizures closely following. Nonepileptic attack disorder was the least offensive term, with FNEA and functional seizures joint second. Unsurprisingly, the three least preferred terms were also the most offensive: pseudoseizures, conversion disorder, and hysteria. Expectations of nonrecovery from psychological treatment were lowest for terms implicating a psychological cause: pseudoseizures, dissociative seizures, psychogenic seizures, and hysteria. The results suggest that either the terms FNEA or functional seizures should be adopted by healthcare professionals and patients, as they are the most preferred, least offensive, and expectations for nonrecovery with psychological treatment were moderate compared with the other terms. Limitations and areas for future research are discussed.

Terminology for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures: Making the case for "functional seizures".

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to review the literature on the terminologies for psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) and make a proposal on the terminology of this condition. This proposal reflects the authors' own opinions. METHODS: We systematically searched MEDLINE (accessed from PubMed) and EMBASE from inception to October 10, 2019 for articles written in English with a main focus on PNES (with or without discussion of other functional neurological disorders) and which either proposed or discussed the accuracy or appropriateness of PNES terminologies. RESULTS: The search strategy reported above yielded 757 articles; 30 articles were eventually included, which were generally of low quality. "Functional seizures" (FS) appeared to be an acceptable terminology to name this condition from the perspective of patients. In addition, FS is a term that is relatively popular with clinicians. CONCLUSION: From the available evidence, FS meets more of the criteria proposed for an acceptable label than other popular terms in the field. While the term FS is neutral with regard to etiology and pathology (particularly regarding whether psychological or not), other terms such as "dissociative", "conversion", or "psychogenic" seizures are not. In addition, FS can potentially facilitate multidisciplinary (physical and psychological) management more than other terms. Adopting a universally accepted terminology to describe this disorder could standardize our approach to the illness and facilitate communication between healthcare professionals, patients, their families, carers, and the wider public.

Functional gait disorders, clinical phenomenology, and classification.

BACKGROUND: Functional gait disorders (FGDs) are relatively common in patients presenting for evaluation of a functional movement disorder (FMD). The diagnosis and classification of FGDs is complex because patients may have a primary FGD or a FMD interfering with gait. METHODS: We performed a detailed evaluation of clinical information and video recordings of gait in patients diagnosed with FMDs. RESULTS: We studied a total of 153 patients with FMDs, 68% females, with a mean age at onset of 36.4 years. A primary FGD was observed in 39.2% of patients; among these patients, 13 (8.5%) had an isolated FGD (a gait disorder without other FMDs). FMDs presented in 34% of patients with otherwise normal gait. Tremor was the most common FMD appearing during gait, but dystonia was the most common FMD interfering with gait. Patients with FGD had a higher frequency of slow-hesitant gait, astasia-abasia, bouncing, wide-based gait and scissoring compared with patients with FMDs occurring during gait. Bouncing gait with knee buckling was more frequently observed in patients with isolated FGD (P = 0.017). Patients with FGDs had a trend for higher frequency of wheelchair dependency (P = 0.073) than those with FMDs interfering with gait. CONCLUSIONS: Abnormal gait may be observed as a primary FGD or in patients with other FMDs appearing during gait; both conditions are common and may cause disability.

Patients with motor conversion disorder use early developmental motor patterns.

OBJECTIVE: To assess psychological factors of individuals suffering from conversion disorder/Functional Neurological Disorder (CD/FND) as observed through their motor behavior. METHODS: We analyzed the psychomotor behavior of 6 patients (all male, average age - 52.8 years) with CD/FND in a specialized clinic using a binary motor - psychological developmental paradigm (Emotorics - Emotive Body Movement Mind Paradigm [Emotorics-EBMMP]). RESULTS: All patients showed dominance of an early developmental prototype (P0) characterized by flexed postures resembling the infant held by his caregivers and relative paucity of a more developed prototype (P1) characterized by erect position typical for a face to face interaction. CONCLUSIONS: The P0 preponderance suggests impingement on the core self and regression to/or fixation in an early developmental stage.

La histeria moderna: Parte III trastornos disociativos y conversión / The modern hysteria: Part III dissociative disorders and conversion

La conciencia: característica esencial de esta dimensión de autorepresentación es la interpretación de ciertos estados internos del propio cuerpo como identidad mental y somática. La neurociencia de la conciencia sugiere fuertemente que un nivel de sincronización y unión entre varias partes del cerebro hasta cierto punto refleja la accesibilidad de varios contenidos mentales. Janet (1889) propuso el término désagrégation para referirse a los fenómenos de «no integración¼ y lo situó en el terreno de la anormalidad. Trastornos disociativos: en estos trastornos hay pérdida parcial o completa de la integración normal entre ciertos recuerdos del pasado, la conciencia de la propia identidad, ciertas sensaciones inmediatas y el control de los movimientos corporales (conversión)

The conscience: essential feature of this dimension of self-representation is the interpretation of certain internal states of the body itself as mental and somatic identity. The neuroscience of consciousness strongly suggests that a level of synchronization and union between various parts of the brain to some extent reflects the accessibility of various mental contents. Janet (1889) proposed the term désagrégation to refer to the phenomena of "non integration" and placed it in the terrain of abnormality. Dissociative disorders: in these disorders there is partial or complete loss of normal integration between certain memories of the past, awareness of one's own identity, certain immediate sensations and control of bodily movements (conversion)

La histeria moderna: Parte IV: evolución de criterios diagnósticos del trastorno por somatización / The modern hysteria: Part III dissociative disorders and conversion

La conciencia: característica esencial de esta dimensión de autorepresentación es la interpretación de ciertos estados internos del propio cuerpo como identidad mental y somática. La neurociencia de la conciencia sugiere fuertemente que un nivel de sincronización y unión entre varias partes del cerebro hasta cierto punto refleja la accesibilidad de varios contenidos mentales. Janet (1889) propuso el término désagrégation para referirse a los fenómenos de «no integración¼ y lo situó en el terreno de la anormalidad. Trastornos disociativos: en estos trastornos hay pérdida parcial o completa de la integración normal entre ciertos recuerdos del pasado, la conciencia de la propia identidad, ciertas sensaciones inmediatas y el control de los movimientos corporales (conversión)

The conscience: essential feature of this dimension of self-representation is the interpretation of certain internal states of the body itself as mental and somatic identity. The neuroscience of consciousness strongly suggests that a level of synchronization and union between various parts of the brain to some extent reflects the accessibility of various mental contents. Janet (1889) proposed the term désagrégation to refer to the phenomena of "non integration" and placed it in the terrain of abnormality. Dissociative disorders: in these disorders there is partial or complete loss of normal integration between certain memories of the past, awareness of one's own identity, certain immediate sensations and control of bodily movements (conversion)

Conversion, Factitious Disorder and Malingering: A Distinct Pattern or a Continuum?

This chapter is aimed at highlighting the recent findings concerning physiopathology, diagnosis, and management of conversion, factitious disorder, and malingering. Conversion disorder is the unintentional production of neurological symptom, whereas malingering and factitious disorder represent the voluntary production of symptoms with internal or external incentives. They have a close history and this has been frequently confounded. Practitioners are often confronted to medically unexplained symptoms; they represent almost 30% of neurologist's consultation. The first challenge is to detect them, and recent studies have confirmed the importance of "positive" clinical bedside signs based on incoherence and discordance, such as the Hoover's sign for the diagnosis of conversion disorder. Functional neuroimaging has allowed a better understanding of the pathophysiology, and highlighted abnormal cerebral activation patterns in conversion disorder in relation to motor, emotional, and limbic networks, different from feigners. This supports the theory evoked by Charcot of a "psychodynamic lesion," which is also reflected by the new term introduced in the DSM-5: functional neurological disorder. Multidisciplinary therapy is recommended with behavioral cognitive therapy, antidepressant to treat frequent comorbid anxiety or depression, and physiotherapy. Factitious disorder and malingering should be clearly delineated from conversion disorder. Factitious disorder should be considered as a mental illness and more research on its physiopathology and treatment is needed, when malingering is a non-medical condition encountered in medico-legal cases.

Are psychogenic non-epileptic seizures just another symptom of conversion disorder?

BACKGROUND: Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are classified with other functional neurological symptoms as 'Conversion Disorder', but there are reasons to wonder whether this symptomatology constitutes a distinct entity. METHODS: We reviewed the literature comparing PNES with other functional neurological symptoms. RESULTS: We find eight studies that directly examined this question. Though all but one found significant differences-notably in presenting age, trauma history, and dissociation-they were divided on whether these differences represented an important distinction. CONCLUSION: We argue that the aetiological and mechanistic distinctions they support, particularly when bolstered by additional data, give reason to sustain a separation between these conditions.

The classification of conversion disorder (functional neurologic symptom disorder) in ICD and DSM.

The name given to functional neurologic symptoms has evolved over time in the different editions of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), reflecting a gradual move away from an etiologic conception rooted in hysterical conversion to an empiric phenomenologic one, emphasizing the central role of the neurologic examination and testing in demonstrating that the symptoms are incompatible with recognized neurologic disease pathophysiology, or are internally inconsistent.

The clinical inadequacy of the DSM-5 classification of somatic symptom and related disorders: an alternative trans-diagnostic model.

The Diagnostic and Statistical of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) somatic symptom and related disorders chapter has a limited clinical utility. In addition to the problems that the single diagnostic rubrics and the deletion of the diagnosis of hypochondriasis entail, there are 2 major ambiguities: (1) the use of the term "somatic symptoms" reflects an ill-defined concept of somatization and (2) abnormal illness behavior is included in all diagnostic rubrics, but it is never conceptually defined. In the present review of the literature, we will attempt to approach the clinical issue from a different angle, by introducing the trans-diagnostic viewpoint of illness behavior and propose an alternative clinimetric classification system, based on the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research.

[Conversion disorder: from DSM IV to DSM 5 or from a psychiatric to a neurological diagnosis]. / Conversiestoornis: van DSM-IV naar DSM-5 of van psychiatrische naar neurologische diagnose.

BACKGROUND: According to one of the diagnostic criteria of the dsm iv for conversion disorder there has to be a temporal relationship between psychological factors and the onset, or the worsening, of the symptoms. This criterion has been omitted in the dsm-5. Another criterion, namely that the symptoms are not produced intentionally, has also been abandoned. A new recommendation is that therapists should look for neurological symptoms that support the diagnosis. AIM: To investigate whether studies support the changes in the criteria. METHOD: We searched literature using PubMed. RESULTS: When the symptoms first appear, trauma or stress in 37% of patients is of a physical rather than a psychological nature. Different forms of stress were found in equal proportions (20%) in patients with or without conversion disorder. There are no specific stressors, except possibly in patients with dysphonia. The percentages of childhood abuse vary widely, namely from 0 to 85%. The characteristic phenomenon of 'la belle indifference' occurs in only 3% of patients with conversion disorder versus only 2% of controls. Most of the 'positive' clinical tests for partial paralysis and sensory and gait disorders are highly specific. There are no reliable tests for distinguishing conversion disorder from simulation. CONCLUSION: The changes of the criteria are supported by recent studies.

Conversion disorder: current problems and potential solutions for DSM-5.

Conversion disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) describes neurological symptoms, including weakness, numbness and events resembling epilepsy or syncope, which can be positively identified as not being due to recognised neurological disease. This review combines perspectives from psychiatry, psychology and neurology to identify and discuss key problems with the current diagnostic DSM-IV criteria for conversion disorder and to make the following proposals for DSM-5: (a) abandoning the label "conversion disorder" and replacing it with an alternative term that is both theoretically neutral and potentially more acceptable to patients and practitioners; (b) relegating the requirements for "association of psychological factors" and the "exclusion of feigning" to the accompanying text; (c) adding a criterion requiring clinical findings of internal inconsistency or incongruity with recognised neurological or medical disease and altering the current 'disease exclusion' criteria to one in which the symptom must not be 'better explained' by a disease if present, (d) adding a 'cognitive symptoms' subtype. We also discuss whether conversion symptoms are better classified with other somatic symptom disorders or with dissociative disorders and how we might address the potential heterogeneity of conversion symptoms in classification.

Dissociative disorders in DSM-5.

BACKGROUND: We present recommendations for revision of the diagnostic criteria for the Dissociative Disorders (DDs) for DSM-5. The periodic revision of the DSM provides an opportunity to revisit the assumptions underlying specific diagnoses and the empirical support, or lack of it, for the defining diagnostic criteria. METHODS: This paper reviews clinical, phenomenological, epidemiological, cultural, and neurobiological data related to the DDs in order to generate an up-to-date, evidence-based set of DD diagnoses and diagnostic criteria for DSM-5. First, we review the definitions of dissociation and the differences between the definitions of dissociation and conceptualization of DDs in the DSM-IV-TR and the ICD-10, respectively. Also, we review more general conceptual issues in defining dissociation and dissociative disorders. Based on this review, we propose a revised definition of dissociation for DSM-5 and discuss the implications of this definition for understanding dissociative symptoms and disorders. RESULTS: We make the following recommendations for DSM-5: 1. Depersonalization Disorder (DPD) should derealization symptoms as well. 2. Dissociative Fugue should become a subtype of Dissociative Amnesia (DA). 3. The diagnostic criteria for DID should be changed to emphasize the disruptive nature of the dissociation and amnesia for everyday as well as traumatic events. The experience of possession should be included in the definition of identity disruption. 4. Should Dissociative Trance Disorder should be included in the Unspecified Dissociative Disorder (UDD) category. CONCLUSIONS: There is a growing body of evidence linking the dissociative disorders to a trauma history, and to specific neural mechanisms.

What's so special about conversion disorder? A problem and a proposal for diagnostic classification.

Conversion disorder presents a problem for the revisions of DSM-IV and ICD-10, for reasons that are informative about the difficulties of psychiatric classification more generally. Giving up criteria based on psychological aetiology may be a painful sacrifice but it is still the right thing to do.

Hallucinations in nonpsychotic disorders: toward a differential diagnosis of "hearing voices".

While auditory hallucinations (AH) are prototypic psychotic symptoms whose clinical presence is often equated with a psychotic disorder, they are commonly found among those without mental illness as well as those with nonpsychotic disorders not typically associated with hallucinations in DSM-IV. This incongruity presents a significant challenge for clinical work and efforts to revise the next iteration of the DSM. Auditory hallucinations found among "normal" people suggest that either AH are not as pathologic as they are typically taken to be, or that less-than-hallucinatory experiences are routinely mischaracterized as AH. Such hallucinations in the context of conversion disorder, trauma, sensory deprivation, and certain cultural settings strengthen an association between AH and psychopathology but suggest limited diagnostic specificity and relevance. It may be useful to think of AH like coughs-common experiences that are often, but not always, symptoms of pathology associated with a larger illness. Although these issues have been known for many years, they are rarely discussed in American psychiatry and need to be addressed in future research and clinical work.

[Astasia-abasia: psychogenic and non-psychogenic causes]. / Astasie-abasie : causes psychogènes et non psychogènes.

Astasia-abasia is defined as the inability to stand and to walk, despite sparing of motor function underlying the required balance and gestures. Initially, astasia-abasia was considered a psychogenic gait disorder, but later on, the description of "high-order" gait disorders mimicking this pure functional deficit led authors to refer to "astasia-abasia" as a pure descriptive term, without a presupposed etiological or anatomical substrate. In this paper, the main clinical characteristics of both psychogenic and non-psychogenic astasia-abasia are presented and discussed.