2. an unconscious
defense mechanism by which the anxiety that stems from intrapsychic conflict is altered and expressed in a symbolic physical symptom such as pain, paralysis, loss of sight, or some other manifestation that has no organic or physiological basis.
conversion disorder a
somatoform disorder characterized by symptoms or deficits affecting voluntary motor or sensory functioning and suggesting physical illness but produced by
conversion. Called also conversion reaction.
Patients' anxiety is “converted” into any of a variety of somatic symptoms such as blindness, deafness, or paralysis, none of which have any organic basis. The anxiety may be the result of an inner conflict too difficult to face, and symptoms are aggravated in times of psychological stress. Patients often exhibit remarkable lack of concern, called
la belle indifférence, about their symptoms, no matter how serious.
From their symptoms, patients achieve both the
primary gain of relief from their anxiety and a number of
secondary gains such as support and attention from others and the chance to avoid unpleasant responsibilities. Symptoms are often increased at times of psychological stress. The symptoms often have an important symbolic relationship to the patient's unconscious conflict, such as incapacitating illness in those who cannot acknowledge dependency needs. Symptoms are neither intentionally produced nor feigned, are not limited to pain or sexual dysfunction, and may affect a part of the body the patient considers weak. One of the first observed examples of conversion disorder was combat fatigue, in which soldiers became paralyzed and could not participate in battle.
Treatment of conversion disorder aims at helping the patient resolve the underlying conflict. Under former classifications, this disorder was called a neurosis (
hysterical neurosis, conversion type).