Unforeseen Consequences of Terrorism

The psychological impact of COVID-19 among a sample of Italian patients with functional neurological disorders: A preliminary study

“…Although specific data are still not available, we hypothesized that patients affected by functional neurological disorders (FND, also called conversion disorders), characterized by the presence of neurological symptoms that cannot be explained by typical neurological diseases or other medical conditions, might be at particularly high risk. This hypothesis is sustained by previous research studies that showed how intense and ubiquitously felt stressors, such as acts of terrorism, can increase the frequency of FND and other somatic complaints or can worsen preexisting disorders [ 2 , 3 ]. Here we aimed to explore the prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression and symptoms related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) across a sample of patients with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) and a sample of patients with functional movement disorders (FMD) during the first two months of COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, with respect to a sample of healthy controls (HC).…”

“…However, the majority of patients reported their FND and their general health to have remained stable or to have even improved during the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This result is surprising since previous studies showed how ubiquitously felt stressors have led to increases in FND after large-scale traumatic events [ 2 , 3 , 5 ]. The discrepancy observed between our results and previous studies might be due to different factors: first, differently from previous studies, the assessment performed here was conducted in the acute phase of the outbreak and not in the long-term; second, we used a subjective measure to assess functional symptoms (ad hoc questionnaire) and not an objective one; third, it is important to mention that the first two months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy overlapped with a strict lockdown of the entire population.…”

Vaccine-Induced Functional Neurological Disorders in the Covid-19 Era

“…20 Intense, pervasive or ubiquitous stressors such as stressful life events, physical trauma including infections and adverse drug reactions and comorbid medical illnesses have been linked to the development of FND or to worsening of pre-existing symptoms. 1,2,[20][21][22] Indeed, the proportion of patients diagnosed with FND among those presenting to emergency neurology services in Mexico increased during the pandemic, with an odds ratio of 2.91. 23 A mass sociogenic illness with limb movements, coprolalia and self-injurious behaviour resembling functional tics has been reported to be prevalent on the social media platform TikTok, the format of which might facilitate spontaneous spread of behaviours and emotions among users.…”

The COVID-19 outbreak and PNES: The impact of a ubiquitously felt stressor

“…These factors probably caused a shared intense stressor that affected the whole community. According to Hasset et al 28 , this distress stems from living with a heightened state of alertness and harboring a fear of the unknown, given that there is an unpredictable threat that could strike indiscriminately.…”