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Functional visual loss: I. A true psuchiatric disorder?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Roger G. Kathol ,
Terry A. Cox ,
James J. Corbett ,
H. Stanley Thompson  and
John Clancy
Roger G. Kathol*
Affiliation:
Departments of Internal Medicine, Neurology, Ophthalmology and Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, Iowa; and the Departments of Ophthalmology and Neurology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
Terry A. Cox
Affiliation:
Departments of Internal Medicine, Neurology, Ophthalmology and Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, Iowa; and the Departments of Ophthalmology and Neurology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
James J. Corbett
Affiliation:
Departments of Internal Medicine, Neurology, Ophthalmology and Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, Iowa; and the Departments of Ophthalmology and Neurology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
H. Stanley Thompson
Affiliation:
Departments of Internal Medicine, Neurology, Ophthalmology and Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, Iowa; and the Departments of Ophthalmology and Neurology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
John Clancy
Affiliation:
Departments of Internal Medicine, Neurology, Ophthalmology and Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospitals, Iowa City, Iowa; and the Departments of Ophthalmology and Neurology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
*
1Address for correspondence Dr Roger G. Kathol, Department of Psychiatry, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, 500 Newton Road, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.
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Synopsis

A review of the literature describing patients with functional visual loss reveals that a significant proportion of them do not manifest psychiatric disease as defined by current nomenclature. Apparently, these individuals are highly suggestible and do not necessarily have psychological pathology. The ramifications of this finding are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , May 1983 , pp. 307 - 314
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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