title: Are psychogenic non-epileptic seizures just another symptom of conversion disorder?
abstract: Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are classified with other functional neurological symptoms as 'Conversion Disorder', but there are reasons to wonder whether this symptomatology constitutes a distinct entity.
  
  
  
  We reviewed the literature comparing PNES with other functional neurological symptoms.
  
  
  
  We find eight studies that directly examined this question. Though all but one found significant differences-notably in presenting age, trauma history, and dissociation-they were divided on whether these differences represented an important distinction.
  
  
  
  We argue that the aetiological and mechanistic distinctions they support, particularly when bolstered by additional data, give reason to sustain a separation between these conditions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia richard.kanaan@unimelb.edu.au.|Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK.
authors.forename: Richard A A
authors.initials: RAA
authors.lastname: Kanaan
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Otago, Christchurch, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Roderick
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Duncan
authors.affiliation: Departments of Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK.
authors.forename: Laura H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Parkinson's Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jankovic
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuropsychiatry, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK.|School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston University, Birmingham, UK.|Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Andrea E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Cavanna
mesh_terms: D003291:Conversion Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders; D012640:Seizures / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*
keywords: aetiology; functional neurological disorder; mechanism; nosology; psychogenic movement disorder