The borderland between neurology and history. Conversion reactions.

The epidemic of conversion reactions taking place at the end of the twentieth century is a result of long-term changes in the presentation of functional illness. These changes often are a response to deeper issues in the culture about what constitutes legitimate organic disease. This epidemic also is a response to short-term changes in the attributions to which patients ascribe their illnesses. Such attributions are heavily influenced by the media, and clinicians must be on guard against both long- and short-term changes as they affect the presentation and attribution of illness.