Taking the 'mystery' out of conversion disorder –

A person with conversion disorder has neurological symptoms that aren't related to any known neurological condition, according to the American Psychiatric Association. The symptoms could appear as uncontrolled motions or verbal outbursts, ...
Conversion Disorder and Mass Hysteria

However, the girls were evaluated by a neurologist who diagnosed them as suffering what is known as "conversion disorder." Conversion disorder is a psychiatric, rather than neurological, disorder. It arises out of the way one uses his or her brain rather than from some lesion, infection or injury of their brain tissue. Yet it is critical to understand that victims of conversion disorder do not fake symptoms. They are convinced their physical symptoms are true, and their suffering is genuine. While more often seen in women than men, one of the most dramatic forms of the disorder, so-called hysterical blindness, has been exploited in many an old war movie plot. The brave soldier witne...
15 NY girls, mysterious symptoms, and a lot of questions

Now known as conversion disorder, where sufferers experience real, but psychologically triggered symptoms. Conversion disorder is rare, but scores of outbreaks have been recorded around the world through the years. Most potbreaks involve females, often teenagers. Some think it has to do with the way girls are socialised to deal with stress. Symptoms seen vary, and cases have included blindness, headaches, nausea and paralysis. They often seem to begin with one person and then it spreads to people they know. One thing in common, is some kind of precipitating stress. In Le Roy, New York, the site of the latest example of this disorder. Dr. Jennifer McVige, a pediatri...
Teens' Mystery Illness Labeled 'Conversion Disorder'

By Sharon Jayson Conversion disorder is characterized by problems with motor or sensory function that suggest a neurological condition, but have no biological cause. For twelve teenage girls in a small New York community with the condition, ...
Concern Spreads Over Conversion Disorder

The State Department of Health confirms at least 3 new cases of conversion disorder in Leroy. Two more girls and one boy are now showing the same symptoms as 12 other girls said to have the disorder earlier this month. Private doctors are evaluating the cases. They'll share their findings with the state. Two high school softball players in the Albany area are also showing signs of conversion disorder. They ate at a restaurant in Leroy,...
NJ doctor tests LeRoy students for PANS

LeROY, NY (WIVB) - At least a dozen LeRoy High School students have been diagnosed with Conversion Disorder. But many families remain skeptical of the diagnosis. Doctors at the Dent Neurological Institute are pointing to psychological factors in the ...
Rowdy public meeting on teens' mystery Tourette's – USATODAY.com

Some health officials have said that the outbreak of symptoms is conversion disorder, a psychological affliction that manifests itself in physical ways, such as Tourette-like tics. But several parents do not agree with that diagnosis, ...
Contentious meeting reflects N.Y. community divided by medical mystery

Doctors have diagnosed most of the children and one adult suffering from the symptoms with "conversion disorder," a condition induced by stress. When occurring in clusters the condition is sometimes called "mass hysteria." But some environmental activists have suggested that some sort of toxin may be causing the condition in the western New York state community. In 1970 a train derailment a few miles from the school site dumped toxic chemicals into the ground, and there are several natural gas wells on school property, where a controversial hydraulic fracturing drilling technique called fracking was used. The derailment area is a federal Superfund site. This week contrac...
N.Y. town still baffled by teens' mysterious tics
Doctors have diagnosed most of them with conversion disorder, saying that stress is the likely root of their physical problems. "What happens is there traditionally some kind of stress or multiple stressors that provoke a physical reaction within the ...
12 Teens Who Suddenly Developed Involuntary Tics Get Diagnosis
Now, one of the doctors treating the girls has revealed the diagnosis: Conversion disorder. Once upon a time, this would have been called “mass hysteria,” but nowadays, conversion disorder is a recognized affliction with very real symptoms.