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Central to Freud's and other psychological models of conversion disorder (CD) is the concept that physical symptoms allow the patient to escape psychological stress. The role of stressors in CD is controversial, and DSM-5 has removed the diagnostic criterion of a stressor near the time of symptom onset. To address this controversy, researchers interviewed 43 individuals with motor CD (symptoms of weakness or paralysis) and 56 controls.
Twenty-eight controls had major depression; the others were without psychiatric illness. Participants were nonpsychotic and had no history of neurological or somatoform disorders. They were asked about life events in the year before symptom onset (or in the previous 2 years for healthy controls), including str…