Compulsive symptoms in dissociative (conversion) disorder

Abstract

According to Mayer-Gross, Slater and Roth's classical textbook Clinical psychiatry, obsessive-compulsive symptoms are rarely seen in hysteria. The release of obsessive-compulsive symptoms is said to occur only in those who are constitutionally predisposed. In this context, the case of a young woman with dissociative (conversion) disorder, who presented with compulsive symptoms, is reported. In her case, the dissociative phenomena manifested as compulsive symptoms without concomitant predisposing factors. Management on the line of treatment for hysteria promptly achieved lasting resolution of symptoms without recourse to pharmacological or non-pharmacological treatment strategies used for obsession(s) or compulsion(s). The underlying mechanism(s) are discussed.