Conversion Disorder: How to Care for Your Child

A child with conversion disorder has trouble with movement or feeling somewhere in the body. Symptoms vary from child to child. They may include things like muscle spasms, numbness, vision or hearing problems, seizure-like episodes, or trouble moving a limb. Stress can make symptoms worse. 

Your child's symptoms are not caused by a neurological disease or any other medical condition. Symptoms should gradually improve with time.

Help your child return to daily routines, which can shift the focus away from symptoms:

• Return to your family's regular schedule.

• If in school, your child should go back to classes as soon as possible. Connect the school staff with the health care team so they can work together to create a care plan.

• Involve your child in normal activities as much as possible, such as hobbies and having friends over.

• Offer positive support as your child goes through therapy, tries new activities, and makes changes to improve their health.

Stress can make symptoms worse. Help your child manage and relieve stress:

• Encourage your child to get daily exercise. Adjust activities to your child's abilities. Stretching and aerobic exercise are both useful. Even walking can help.

• Make sure your child gets plenty of rest and eats a healthy diet.

• Relaxation techniques like meditation, yoga, or deep breathing might be helpful for older kids and teens.

Keep regular appointments with your health care provider:

• Make appointments with any specialists recommended by your health care provider. These may include a neurologist, psychiatrist, physical therapist or occupational therapist, and/or a psychologist.

• Sometimes medicines can help. Talk to the health care provider about whether any might help your child.

• You have concerns about your child.

• Your child has new symptoms.

• Symptoms get worse.

• Your child has a seizure.

What causes conversion disorder? The cause is not clear. Some experts think that it comes from emotional stress being "converted" into physical symptoms. But it also can happen without a clear emotional trigger. It's also sometimes called "functional neurological symptom disorder" because the symptoms involve how the nervous system works.

Even though the cause is not understood, the symptoms are real. A child with conversion disorder is not faking or purposely causing the symptoms.

How is conversion disorder diagnosed? A health care provider diagnoses conversion disorder when:

• symptoms related to the nervous system affect a child's ability to move or to use senses like vision or hearing

• an exam and other tests do not show any medical problems

• the symptoms are distressing and/or disrupt daily life at school or at home