Journal
ADOLESCENT HEALTH MEDICINE AND THERAPEUTICS
Volume 5, Issue -, Pages 67-71Publisher
DOVE MEDICAL PRESS LTD
DOI: 10.2147/AHMT.S57486
Keywords
somatoform disorders; dysautonomias; pain; collagen diseases; mitochondrial diseases; complex regional pain syndromes
Categories
Funding
- The Coalition Against Pediatric Pain
- Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation
- EDNF National Learning Conference
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Conversion Disorder (CD) is a diagnosis offered to explain signs and symptoms that do not correspond to recognized medical conditions. Pediatric patients with variable, vague, and multisystem complaints are at increased risk for being diagnosed with CD. Little is known about the impact of such a diagnosis. In making such diagnoses, it is likely that pediatric providers hope to encourage patients to access mental health care, but no basis exists to show that these diagnoses result in such access in any useful way. This article presents the case of a child with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, who had been previously (incorrectly) diagnosed with CD and referred for mental health care. It offers commentary based on interviews with other pediatric patients with similar experiences - conducted in collaboration with the Ehlers-Danlos National - Foundation. These cases indicate that CD diagnoses can seriously undermine patients' trust in doctors, and can create such defensiveness that it may interfere with (especially) patients' abilities to engage with mental health services. Such interference is an important problem, if the diagnosis is accurate. But, in the (more likely) event that it is not accurate, this defensiveness can interfere with both important mental health care and further ongoing necessary medical care.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available