Am J Psychiatry 1978; 135:349-352
Copyright © 1978 by American Psychiatric Association
Dystonia: a disorder often misdiagnosed as a conversion reaction
RP Lesser and S Fahn
The authors studied the records of 84 patients who had idiopathic torsion
dystonia. Thirty-seven cases had originally been misdiagnosed as primarily
psychiatric illness. Only 1 patient presented with dystonic movements that
were clearly part of a more general psychiatric disorder. The authors
believe her to be the first reported patient whose dystonia is undeniably
of psychogenic origin.
