Conversion hysteria: is it a viable concept?
The notion of conversion hysteria is built around three assumptions to the effect that symptoms can arise without an adequate pathological base, that the patient experiences these symptoms as ''real'' in that they are not consciously feigned, and that psychological distress can be transformed or ''converted'' into physical symptoms. It is argued that the first of these assumptions is valid and that the truth of the second cannot be judged with adequate reliability to make it acceptable as a criterion for classification. The last assumption is questionable in that it is difficult to conceive of a satisfactory explanation as to how the process of conversion might operate.
Centre for Applied Psychology, University of Leicester, UK.
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