Motor Conversion Symptoms and Pseudoseizures: A Comparison of Clinical Characteristics

Stone, Jon; Sharpe, Michael; Binzer, Michael

doi:10.1176/appi.psy.45.6.492

Cited by 97 publications

(63 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Three studies have shown that NES patients are on average younger at onset [6][7][8] and one highlighted a higher female percentage in NES [8] (whereas we found no significant difference). Two found higher rates of previous abuse and stressful life events in NES vs FW patients [6,7], but none have shown convincing differences in the frequency of psychiatric comorbidity. We have not found prior studies comparing illness perceptions of patients with a motor disorder such as stroke and epilepsy.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 89%

“…Previous studies comparing these two subgroups of patients have examined demographics, psychiatric comorbidity, life events and a history of abuse but not illness perceptions [6][7][8][9]. Three studies have shown that NES patients are on average younger at onset [6][7][8] and one highlighted a higher female percentage in NES [8] (whereas we found no significant difference).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 72%

“…Possible explanations for the observed differences between NES and FW patients include: (1) the experience of cognitive symptoms such as fear, derealisation or depersonalisation during NES [18,19] or the experience of triggering which may be more likely to be recognised as 'psychological' (2) It is also possible that NES is a problem in which psychological factors are especially relevant for symptom triggering and maintenance as suggested by studies of prior life events and abuse [6,7] and studies of threat perception [20]. (3) FW is continuous whereas NES is episodic, making psychological factors more plausible (i.e.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, data comparing these two groups is scarce [6][7][8][9] and no previous studies have focused on illness perceptions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differences in illness perceptions between patients with non-epileptic seizures and functional limb weakness

Ludwig

Whitehead

Sharpe

et al. 2015

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

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Word Count excluding abstract and tables: 1590Abstract 259 Abstract ObjectivesIllness perceptions are considered to play an important role in the onset and maintenance of symptoms in Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder (Conversion Disorder). There has, however, been little work examining differences between subtypes of this disorder. We therefore aimed to compare illness perceptions of patients with non-epileptic seizures (NES) and those with functional weakness (FW) with matching neurological disease controls to examine their specificity. MethodsThe Illness Perception Questionnaire Revised (IPQ-R) was completed by patients with functional limb weakness, non-epileptic seizures and patients with neurological disease causing limb weakness and epilepsy in two separate case control studies. ResultsPatients with FW (n=107), NES (=40), Epilepsy (n=34) and neurological disease causing limb weakness (NDLW) (n=46) were included in the analysis. Both FW and NES patients reported a low level of personal control, understanding of their symptoms and a tendency to reject a psychological causation of their symptoms. However NES patients rejected psychological causes less strongly than FW patients (p<0.01), including the single 'stress' item of the IPQ-R (p<0.01). Patients with NES were also more likely to consider their treatment to be more effective (p<0.01). None of these differences appeared in a similar comparison between patients with epilepsy and patients with NDLW. ConclusionAlthough patients with NES tend, as a group, to reject psychological factors as relevant to their symptoms, they did so less strongly than patients with functional limb weakness in these cohorts. This has implications for both the way in which these symptoms are grouped together but also the way in which explanations and treatment is approached.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 89%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, data comparing these two groups is scarce [6][7][8][9] and no previous studies have focused on illness perceptions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Differences in illness perceptions between patients with non-epileptic seizures and functional limb weakness

Ludwig

Whitehead

Sharpe

et al. 2015

Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Self Cite

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show abstract

“…However, patients with NES are much more likely to have another conversion symptom than patients who have never had NES [28,56,57], NES may merge into a "functional" movement disorder in clear consciousness, and there is a lack of comparative studies to justify separating them off [58].…”

Section: Should Non-epileptic Seizures Be Separated From Other Convermentioning

confidence: 99%