[When patients can not tell you what is bothering them--the impossibility of explicite communication with patients suffering from conversion disorder].
It usually takes a long time until dissociative seizures are finally diagnosed. To avoid false diagnosis patients need a thorough somatic examination to exclude biomedical reasons for their symptomatology. After informing patients about the 'hysterical nature' of their seizures most patients reject this hypothesis and claim not being taken seriously. Consequently, this does impair their willingness to undergo psychotherapy. The prognosis of dissociative seizures is dubious; it varies according to the extent of psychiatric comorbidity, time of diagnosis and length of history with dissociative symptoms. The choice of a specific psychotherapeutic modality depends on the etiology of the disorder. The case history of a Turkish patient with dissociative seizures will be presented that highlights the specific problems of this diagnosis in a population of migrants.
Karadag
Güzide
G
Abteilung für Psychosomatik, Innere Medizin, Universitätsspital Basel. GKaradag@uhbs.ch
D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D003142:Communication; D003291:Conversion Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000523:psychology; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011575:Psychoanalytic Therapy; D012640:Seizures / Q000523:psychology; D013557:Switzerland; D014421:Turkey / Q000208:ethnology