Conversion Disorder when stress wears a physical mask.
A conversion disorder is when psychological distress produces real physical symptoms (paralysis, blindness, seizures) with no organic cause. AP Psych tests it in the disorders unit — here is the definition, examples, and the diagnostic criteria.
Definition
Conversion disorder (now called functional neurological symptom disorder in DSM-5) is a condition in which psychological stress is “converted” into real, measurable physical symptoms — paralysis, blindness, deafness, seizures — with no underlying neurological cause.
The symptoms are not faked. Patients are not lying. fMRI scans show the relevant brain regions actually behaving abnormally.
How AP Psych tests it
Usually a vignette: the patient experiences sudden paralysis after a traumatic event, but neurological tests come back normal. The MCQ then asks you to identify the disorder. The answer is conversion disorder.
Don’t confuse it with: malingering (faking for gain), factitious disorder (faking for attention), or somatic symptom disorder (genuine symptoms but exaggerated anxiety about them).
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers — written by humans, not a chatbot.
Is conversion disorder the same as somatic symptom disorder?
No. Somatic symptom disorder = real symptoms with disproportionate anxiety. Conversion disorder = symptoms that don’t match neurological reality.
Is the patient making it up?
No. fMRI data shows the patient’s brain actually behaves as if the limb is paralyzed. The patient experiences the symptom as real — because in a sense, it is.