Emotion regulation in Conversion Disorder: Towards an integrative perspective

Abstract

The role emotion regulation plays in Conversion Disorders is still unknow. This study has the aim to deepen in this subject. Emotion regulation impairments are studied both theoretically and experimentally. In first place, different conversion symptoms were considered separately and those emotional impairments and neurobiological features linked to them were studied. Frontolimbic and vegetative patterns were found to be different in diverse clinical manifestations. While negative symptoms showed a pattern linked to over-regulation of affect, positive symptoms were vinculated to under-regulation of affect and finally, other symptoms such as tonic immbility were found to be a result of the combination of both strategies. A model cathegorizing different conversion manifestations according to emotion regulation patterns is proposed. Similar hipothesis are studied for the whole spectrum of trauma related disorders. Moreover, specific emotion regulation impairments are studied comparing a clinical sample to healthy controls. Difficulties on emotion regulation, alexithymia and negative emotional intensity were associated to Conversion Disorder.