Treatment of Functional Movement Disorders

Abstract

Functional movement disorders (FMD) are commonly seen in neurologic practice and frequent sources of disability. Patients may present with tremor, weakness, dystonia, jerking movements, abnormal gait and speech, often combining several movement phenomenologies. Associated symptoms include chronic pain, depression, and anxiety. Treatment of FMD begins with an explanation of the diagnosis and needs to be tailored to patients' symptoms and comorbidities. There may be benefit from multidisciplinary treatment, including physical, occupational, and speech therapy, as well as psychotherapeutic interventions, especially cognitive behavior therapy. The role for neuromodulation such as transmagnetic stimulation in FMD treatment requires further research.

Keywords: Cognitive behavior therapy; Conversion disorder; Multidisciplinary treatment; Psychogenic movement disorder.