Inpatient treatment of conversion disorder: a clinical investigation of outcome

In a retrospective survey, a group of 220 patients with conversion symptoms was subdivided according to clinical findings at the time of discharge. The longer the duration of the symptom and the older the patient, the less was the beneficial effect of treatment. One particular problem with therapy for conversion symptoms lies in the fact that, in his own eyes, the patient is not psychologically ill, but physically ill. Time and again, it proved a therapeutic blind alley to try and convince the patient that the cause of his conversion symptoms was 'purely psychological'. Special guidelines for therapy of conversion symptoms are derived.