Psychological interventions for treating functional motor symptoms: A systematic scoping review of the literature

Functional Movement Disorders (FMD) can be identified by limb weakness, gait disorders, or involuntary movements which are inconsistent with a neurological diagnosis. Despite the prevalence of such symptoms, there has been little consensus on models for treatment. This scoping review set out to identify the literature exploring the efficacy of psychological interventions for the treatment of FMD, either as a stand-alone intervention or as part of a multi-disciplinary team approach. Studies set in an adult inpatient and outpatient setting were considered for inclusion. The final review consisted of 33 papers; 13 reviewing psychological treatments only, and 20 reviewing multidisciplinary approaches that included a psychological intervention. This review of the literature reaffirms the inconsistency across treatment for FMD, although identifies a trend towards an MDT approach in recent years. The review also identifies areas where consistency in methodology may be beneficial in future research, in order to improve the validity of results for greater comparison of treatments. There are promising outcomes that support the continued investigation focused on an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach to care, for the reduction of symptoms.