Should conversion disorder be reclassified as a dissociative disorder in DSM V?

Psychosomatics. 2007 Sep-Oct;48(5):369-78. doi: 10.1176/appi.psy.48.5.369.

Abstract

Pseudoneurological symptoms (i.e., conversion disorder), historically subsumed within the "hysteria" concept alongside phenomena such as psychogenic amnesia and multiple personality disorder, have been classified as somatoform disorders since DSM-III. Since then, there have been repeated calls to reclassify conversion disorder with the dissociative disorders, as in ICD-10. The authors review issues such as the high correlations between pseudoneurological and dissociative symptoms, the high rates of trauma reported for both groups, and the position that these phenomena share underlying processes. Although reintegrating pseudoneurological symptoms with the dissociative disorders is not without complications, there is a strong case for such a reclassification.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Conversion Disorder / classification*
  • Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders*
  • Dissociative Disorders / classification*
  • Humans
  • Terminology as Topic*