Successful Treatment of "Hysteria"

Motor symptoms without a discernible organic basis, or "hysteria," continue to be a treatment challenge. The worst fear of most patients is being told that their symptoms have a psychiatric etiology. These U.K. researchers have used that fear in developing a strategic intervention whereby patients and their families are informed that those with organic disease will recover fully with behavioral treatment, whereas lack of recovery will prove psychiatric etiology. Using a crossover-study design, they tested this approach in 9 patients (8 female) with acute nonorganic motor disorders and 30 (24 female) with chronic nonorganic motor disorders. Symptoms included paresis, paralysis, and pain.

First, patients underwent standard behavioral treatment…