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Functional Neurological Disorders: It Is All in the Head

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Functional Symptoms in Pediatric Disease

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Abstract

The stressful events in a child’s life may not always be expressed in words, but rather in physical symptoms. This form of “body language” may be an alternative method of communicating stress. Psychological factors are frequently the cause of functional neurological disorders such as headaches, psychogenic nonepileptic seizures, motor conversion disorders, and tic disorders. Organic or pathophysiologic causes for the physical symptoms must always be explored. However, failure to recognize the impact of psychological factors on the symptoms may delay effective treatment and expose the child to unnecessary medications, diagnoses, and labeling, with potentially untoward side effects. There may also be significant costs for extensive laboratory testing, imaging studies, and referrals that may not be required when an accurate diagnosis of a functional neurological problem has been established. Treatment strategies for somatoform neurological symptoms are often multimodal and quite different from neurological problems with a physiological cause.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pioneer Valley Pediatrics, Rockingham Medical Group, 131 Thomson Drive, Ludlow, VT, 5149, USA

    Linda Thomson PhD, MSN, APRN, ABMH

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  1. Linda Thomson PhD, MSN, APRN, ABMH
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Correspondence to Linda Thomson PhD, MSN, APRN, ABMH .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, New York, USA

    Ran D. Anbar

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Thomson, L. (2014). Functional Neurological Disorders: It Is All in the Head. In: Anbar, R. (eds) Functional Symptoms in Pediatric Disease. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-8074-8_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-8074-8_2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-8073-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-8074-8

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