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