Functional Disorders in Neurology: Case Studies

Jon Stone; Ingrid Hoeritzauer; Jeannette Gelauff; Alex Lehn; Paula Gardiner; Anne van Gils; Alan Carson

doi:10.1016/j.ncl.2016.04.013

Functional Disorders in Neurology: Case Studies

Neurol Clin. 2016 Aug;34(3):667-81. doi: 10.1016/j.ncl.2016.04.013.

Authors

Jon Stone¹, Ingrid Hoeritzauer², Jeannette Gelauff³, Alex Lehn⁴, Paula Gardiner², Anne van Gils⁵, Alan Carson⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK. Electronic address: Jon.Stone@ed.ac.uk.
² Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK.
³ Department of Neurology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen 9713 GZ, Netherlands.
⁴ Mater Centre for Neurosciences, 551 Stanley Street, South Brisbane, Queensland 4101, Australia; School of Medicine, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia.
⁵ University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion regulation, Hanzeplein 1, Groningen 9713 GZ, Netherlands.
⁶ Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK; Department of Psychological Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Crewe Road, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK.

PMID: 27445247
DOI: 10.1016/j.ncl.2016.04.013

Abstract

Functional, often called psychogenic, disorders are common in neurological practice. We illustrate clinical issues and highlight some recent research findings using six case studies of functional neurological disorders. We discuss dizziness as a functional disorder, describing the relatively new consensus term Persistent Posturo-Perceptual Dizziness (PPPD), axial jerking/myoclonus as a functional movement disorder, functional speech symptoms, post-concussion disorder with functional cognitive symptoms and finally advances in treatment of dissociative seizures and functional motor disorders.

Keywords: Conversion disorder; Dizziness; Functional; Movement disorder; Nonepileptic seizures; Physiotherapy; Psychogenic; Psychotherapy.

Publication types

Case Reports
Review

MeSH terms

Adult
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Somatoform Disorders / diagnosis*
Somatoform Disorders / etiology*
Somatoform Disorders / therapy
Young Adult