[Psychiatric comorbidity in dissociative disorders in neurology]

Abstract

We studied consecutively 50 neurologic inpatients of a university neurological department with dissociative (conversion) disorders with regard to their associated psychopathologic features as well as to their comorbidity. The study involved both self-measuring instruments and a standardized psychiatric interview. As a result patients with conversion disorders appeared as a psychopathologic highly disturbed group. We found that although the dissociative symptoms are phenomenological very predominant and were the reason for hospital admission in all cases, they must be interpreted as accompanying features in the context of complex psychiatric disorders. Diagnostic and therapeutic consequences are discussed with regard to the neurology.