Table 2.

Psychiatrists’ Views on the Nature of Conversion Disorder

	N (%)
Do you see the aetiology of conversion disorder as involving:
Disordered functioning of the nervous system	3 (2)
Psychogenesis	57 (31)
Disordered functioning of the nervous system plus psychogenesis	115 (63)
Feigning	3 (2)
Unknown or other	5 (3)
What is the relationship of conversion disorder to feigning?
Overlap	102 (56)
Completely distinct	52 (28)
Feigning a subset of conversion	25 (14)
Conversion a subset of feigning	3 (2)
Do you think you have a sufficient model for conversion disorder in general?
Yes	103 (56)
No	79 (43)
Do you think with enough time and a compliant patient, a psychosocial explanation could be found for a case of conversion disorder?
Never	0 (0)
Rarely	12 (7)
Often	79 (43)
Usually	83 (45)
Always	9 (5)
How often can you find a psychosocial explanation for a patient’s symptoms in practice?
Never	1 (<1)
Rarely	14 (8)
Often	96 (52)
Usually	66 (36)
Always	6 (3)
What proportion of your patients referred with unexplained neurological symptoms do you think are feigning?
None	37 (20)
A few	140 (76)
Many	3 (2)
Most or all of them	1 (<1)
Do you understand conversion disorder to be neurological, in the same way that multiple sclerosis is neurological?
Yes	14 (8)
Not now, but I expect to one day	67 (37)
No, and I expect I never will	99 (54)