TABLE 1.

Patient Demographic & Clinical Characteristics

Subject	Age	Sex	Years since FMD onset	Phenomenology of functional movements	Psychiatric disorders, current	Additional lifetime psychiatric disorders	Insight	Selected additional information & patient language
1	33	F	16	Functional speech, facial spasms	None	MDD	partial	See case 1
2	24	F	5	Tremor	Dysthymia, GAD, Social Anxiety Disorder	None	good	See case 2
3	65	M	10	Tremor	None	None	partial	See case 3
4	66	F	1.67	Blepharospasm	None	MDD, Alcohol Use Disorder	good	See case 4
5	67	F	5	Dystonia	GAD	MDD	Good	See case 5
6	53	F	9	Functional speech, jerking movements, gait abnormalities	MDD, GAD, PTSD	Panic disorder	partial	See case 6
7	28	F	8	Truncal and pelvic jerking movements	Somatization disorder	MDD, GAD, PTSD, Borderline PD (probable)	Poor	See case 7
8	70	M	0.33	Abdominal jerking movements	GAD, Marijuana dependence	None	partial	See case 8
9	39	F	3	Tremor	PTSD	MDD	good	Stressor: Physical and verbal abuse from father Full understanding of psychological underpinnings: “my emotions become motions”.
10	58	M	13	Tremor	None	None	poor	Stressor: Ex-wife murdered son “Every day you get up and put one foot down after another”
11	54	F	14	Functional speech, tremor, dystonia	None	None	poor	Mother used to berate her. Now patient’s illness prevents her from caring for mother.
12	44	F	1.5	Tremor	MDD, OCD, GAD, PTSD, Personality Disorder NOS	None	unclear	Chronically depressed; extensive trauma history; disability pending (possible component of malingering); movements started after an affair
13	42	F	1	Functional speech, tremor	Somatization disorder, GAD	None	good	Can express emotions such as anger
14	55	F	1	Tremor	None	None	good	Acknowledges “irritation” with living with depressed relative
15	31	M	26	Tremor	GAD, Social Anxiety Disorder	None	good	Some dependency on parents but no clear dynamic issues
16	52	F	32	Tremor	Somatization disorder, MDD, PTSD	None	good	Mixed response to stress. She states that when her dogs died “I didn’t want to be alive, so I started to fail … my leg started not to work.” “The more tense I am, the more I tremble.”
17	58	F	3	Chewing dystonia	None	None	poor	“I tend to not go into those places where you feel depressed … [instead I] have a cup of tea or listen to music.”
18	42	F	0.75	Dystonia	None	Depressive disorder NOS	poor	Symptoms improving
19	33	M	9	Palatal myoclonus	None	Panic disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder— both mild	partial	Less focused on movements after “coming out” as homosexual, although movements have persisted
20	43	F	11	Functional speech, dystonia	MDD, GAD	None	partial	Abusive/neglectful parents when she was a child. She now lives with parents and relationships now improved.
21	62	F	2	Blepharospasm	None	None	partial	Conflictual marriage; “during his time being my caregiver … [my husband] feels needed and that I depend on him”
22	47	F	4	Tremor	GAD, Social Anxiety Disorder	MDD, PTSD	good	Symptoms started after surgery for thyroid cancer and then death of mother
23	30	F	7	Gait abnormalities, tremor	GAD, possible dependent personality traits	None	good	History of abusive boyfriends; Stays with current boyfriend despite emotional abuse; when he mistreats her, her legs stick to the ground: “I can’t move forward.”
24	43	F	13	Dystonia, gait abnormalities	Probable mixed personality disorder	MDD	unclear
25	54	M	2.5	Dystonia	None	None	poor	“I still don’t know why” I left my first wife; “stress doesn’t really get to me”; “I don’t ever remember feeling anxious.” Sad?—“very occasionally”; disability denial under review
26	35	F	3.5	Dystonia, gait abnormalities	None	None	poor	Also has chronic fatigue and “brain fog”
27	45	F	7	Gait abnormalities	Social Anxiety Disorder		good	“I keep a lot of stuff in me”; on disability for FMD; trial period working as a home health aide; “Ive completely burnt out taking care of other people.”
28	39	M	3	Jerking movements, gait abnormalities	Somatization disorder, Hypochondriasis, OCD	MDD	partial	Father was selfish, now when around selfish people: mind starts “crashing and fogging up … static in my head”; sometimes “my lungs just stop”
29	46	F	5	Functional speech, tremor, gait abnormalities	Somatization disorder	MDD, PTSD	good	Severe childhood sexual trauma with past repression of those memories. Improving with psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. “I had patterns of stuffing emotions away and doing something like getting good grades”; “I have to be very stressed before I notice anything … it comes out as a stomachache [and] I get a lot of headaches.”
30	43	F	4	Gait abnormalities	Somatization disorder	MDD, Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, PTSD	good	Severe trauma as an adult. “Now I am more attuned to my body— now when I have a down day, my family knows they need to cook and clean and take care of the house” “I used to never cry, hold it all in. Now with FMD, I get emotional”
31	27	F	1	Tremor, jerking movements	None	GAD	poor	Lyme disease reported from 2004–2008; Sometimes “my hair shakes”
32	48	F	1.5	Tremor	MDD, dysthymia, Anxiety Disorder NOS	None	partial	Childhood abuse. Currently on disability.
33	58	F	3	Tremor	Somatization Disorder	None	poor	Chronic headache since age 2; mother had schizophrenia; husband carries her upstairs when she has a headache; on disability. Reports feeling depressed for years but now “it’s not good to wallow”; “I’m pretty darn calm”
34	32	F	1	Tremor	None	None	poor	Takes care of mother with Parkinson’s disease. When feels anger: “I bite my tongue or scream in pillow … if I get really mad I start cleaning.”
35	53	F	1	Palatal myoclonus	Hypochondriasis, OCD, GAD	None	poor	“I’ve always been a pessimist … I always worry.” Had been told that aspergillus was “eating into the bones of your brain”—not reassured by physicians who say she does not have that.
36	61	F	19	Tremor	Somatization disorder, GAD, histrionic and dramatic traits	None	partial	Recognizes role of stress but also environment. Magical thinking: Has theory that her fat cells break down at night and release toxins. After my leg biopsy Dr A described all the tissue down to my bone to be the strangest he had ever seen”

Abbreviations: FMD: functional movement disorder; MDD: major depressive disorder; PTSD: post-traumatic stress disorder; GAD: generalized anxiety disorder; OCD: obsessive compulsive disorder; NOS: not otherwise specified; PD: personality disorder.

Psychiatric disorders listed are in addition to Conversion Disorder.

Diagnoses were made using SCID, and confirmed by clinical interview with psychosomatic psychiatrist. Personality disorders were diagnosed from clinical interview with psychiatrist.

Years since FMD onset refers to years since initial FMD presentation; course may be episodic in some.