Classified as a "conversion disorder" by the DSM-IV, a psychogenic disease is a disease in which mental stressors cause physical symptoms of different diseases. The manifestation of physical symptoms without biologically identifiable causes results from disruptions of processes in the brain from psychological stress. During a psychogenic disease, neuroimaging has shown that neural circuits affecting functions such as emotion, executive functioning, perception, movement, and volition are inhibited. These disruptions become strong enough to prevent the brain from voluntarily allowing certain actions (e.g. moving a limb). When the brain is unable to signal to the body to perform an action voluntarily, physical symptoms of a disease are presented even though there is no biological identifiable cause. Examples of diseases that are believed by many to be psychogenic include

psychogenic seizures Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES) are events resembling an epileptic seizure, but without the characteristic electrical discharges associated with epilepsy. PNES fall under the category of disorders known as functional neurological disor ...

, psychogenic polydipsia, psychogenic tremor, and

psychogenic pain Psychogenic pain is physical pain that is caused, increased, or prolonged by mental, emotional, or behavioral factors. Headache, back pain, or stomach pain are some of the most common types of psychogenic pain. Commonly it accompanies or is indu ...

. The term ''psychogenic disease'' is often used in a similar way to ''

psychosomatic A somatic symptom disorder, formerly known as a somatoform disorder,(2013) asthma Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

can be exacerbated by

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

Diagnosis

With the advent of medical screening technologies, such as electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring, psychogenic diseases are becoming much more common as medical professionals have increasingly precise tools to monitor patients. When a patient does not display typical markers of a disorder that could show up from medical exams, physicians typically diagnose a patient's symptoms as being psychogenic. Research into understanding psychogenic disorders has led to the development of both electronic diagnostic tests for ruling out the usual biological markers of a disorder and new clinical observation procedures. An example of something a physician would look for when testing for psychogenic symptoms is if the symptom changes with suggestion (e.g. a patient is told to use a tuning fork to aid symptoms in a movement disorder). Despite the understanding of psychogenic symptoms, there are some problems with the assumption that all medically unexplained illness must have a psychological cause. It remains possible that genetic, biochemical,

electrophysiological Electrophysiology (from Greek , ''ēlektron'', "amber" etymology of "electron"">Electron#Etymology">etymology of "electron" , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , ''-logia'') is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of bi ...

, or other abnormalities may be present which we do not have the technology or background to identify. Some patients may also have their symptoms diagnosed as psychogenic even with a lack of evidence to suggest there are psychological causes. Misdiagnoses of psychogenic disease may be simply accidental, but they can also come from bias. For example, a doctor with a bias towards men may tell women that their symptoms are psychogenic, despite them being actual symptoms for a physical disease. This would then be contrasted with a man experiencing the same symptoms being treated differently, with the physical disease being detected.

References

{{Reflist, refs= Benbadis, S. R. (2005). The problem of psychogenic symptoms: is the psychiatric community in denial?. Epilepsy & Behavior, 6(1), 9-14. Stonnington, C. M., Barry, J. J., & Fisher, R. S. (2006). Conversion disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(9), 1510-1517. Biddle, C., Fallavollita, J. A., Homish, G. G., & Orom, H. (2019). Gender bias in clinical decision making emerges when patients with coronary heart disease symptoms also have psychological symptoms. Heart & Lung, 48(4), 331-338 Functional (Psychogenic) Movement Disorders. (2019). Baylor College of Medicine. https://www.bcm.edu/healthcare/specialties/neurology/parkinsons-disease-and-movement-disorders/psychogenic-movement-disorders#:~:text=There%20is%20no%20blood%20test%20or%20any%20other

Diagnosis

See also

References

Further reading