Conversion Disorder CE Course

Target Audience

Psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, marriage and family therapists, substance abuse counselors, allied health professionals, nurses, general practice physicians, and students, interns, and trainees of these disciplines.

Underlying Need for Course

The purpose of this activity is to expand the student’s knowledge about conversion disorder and its differential diagnoses.

Conversion disorder presents in a way that appears to have legitimate symptoms.
Most of the symptoms are neurological and it takes several tests to rule out a neurological disorder.
Many professionals cannot promptly diagnose conversion disorder, especially if there is a true underlying neurological disorder superimposed by conversion.

Conversion disorder represents about 1% of consultation in general hospitals; up to 9% of consults with neurologists or psychiatrists, and it is a diagnosis made by exclusion, requiring several work ups to rule out real neurological disorders or identify when conversive symptoms superimpose real symptoms. Conversion disorder is a common and difficult problem seen in medical practice. There is a high incidence of co-morbidities (neurological, motor, emotional, sensory) and it is necessary to have a therapeutic approach to treat conversion disorder once it is diagnosed, instead of reinforcing conversive symptoms. The purpose of this activity is to expand the student’s knowledge about conversion disorder and its differential diagnosis.

Conversion disorder is a common and difficult problem seen in medical practice.
There are high incidences of comorbidities (neurological, motor, emotional, sensory).
It is necessary to have a therapeutic approach to treat conversion disorder once it is diagnosed, instead reinforcing conversive symptoms.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course learners will be able to:

Define conversion disorder.
Identify the differential diagnoses.
Establish a therapeutic relationship to assist patient in developing insight about conversion disorder.
Offer treatment to patients with conversion disorder.

References

Ali, S., Jabeen, S., Pate, R. J., Shahid, M., Chinala, S., Nathani, M., & Shah, R. (2015). Conversion Disorder- Mind versus Body: A Review. Innovations in clinical neuroscience, 12(5-6), 27–33.
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Conversion disorder. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596.dsm05
Berger FK, Zieve D, and Conaway B. (2016). Conversion disorder. MedlinePlus. Available at https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000954.htm
Conversion Disorder. (2019). Physiopedia, . Retrieved 18:16, September 25, 2019 from https://www.physio-pedia.com/index.php?title=Conversion_Disorder&oldid=222831.
Feinstein A. (2011). Conversion disorder: advances in our understanding. CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal =Journal de l’Association medicale canadienne, 183(8), 915–920. doi:10.1503/cmaj.110490
Marshall S.A., Landau M.E., Carroll C.G., Schwieters B., and Llewellyn A. (2015). Conversion disorders. Medscape. Available at https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/287464-overview
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (n.d.). Conversion Disorder. Available at https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/6191/conversion-disorder