7: Functional disorders Flashcards
What is a functional disorder?
Symptoms without a clear organic cause
Are functional disorders fake or made up?
No
Compare to ‘software’ problem with a computer, still causes a crash (loss of function) but there’s no clear hardware (organic) cause
What are some examples of functional symptoms?
Headache
Chronic pain (esp. abdominal, chest)
Non-epileptic seizures
Chronic fatigue
Muscle weakness
What is the idea of conversion disorder?
Is it still used?
Mental health problems are converted into functional symptoms
No evidence for it
Are all functional disorders caused by mental health problems?
No
What is dissociation?
Feeling of detachment from reality
Is dissociation normal?
Yes, e.g when you can’t remember how you got somewhere after a long journey
What are two types of dissociation?
Derealisation - feeling like things around you aren’t real
Depersonalisation - feeling like you yourself aren’t real
How may patients describe dissociation?
Dizziness
Spacing out
Patients with suspected functional disorders should be questioned ___ about their symptoms.
thoroughly
it helps to be listened to
The examination findings of someone with a functional order may be ___.
inconsistent
What is an uneconomic gait?
Gait which is much more difficult to perform than a normal one
What do non-epileptic attacks look like?
Stereotypical
Oscillating
No tonic-clonic features
