What is FND/FMD?
What is functional neurological disorder?
Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a neurological condition that can cause a variety of symptoms including problems with movement, sensory symptoms, cognitive symptoms, seizure-like episodes, fatigue and pain. Functional movement disorder (FMD) refers to a subtype of FND where movement/motor symptoms are the primary concern, although people may also experience many other non-motor symptoms.
FND is caused by problems with how the brain functions, which can be thought of as a problem with the “software” of the brain. This is different from many other neurological conditions where there is a problem with the “hardware” or physical structure of the brain. For this reason, FND is diagnosed based on the findings on the clinical examination, and imaging and blood tests are usually normal.
FND is a common problem. It is important to know that your symptoms are real and not purposefully produced, and may not be the same as others with FND. These symptoms can cause disability and distress, but can be treatable and improve over time.
What causes FND?
Often we do not know the exact reason why symptoms start at a specific time in a specific person. There are many reasons why an individual may be susceptible to FND. These should be thought of as risk factors and not direct causes. We can think about these types of risk factors in three groups:
- Predisposing factors (risk factors): Things that happen before the symptoms started
- Precipitating factors (triggers): Things that happened at the time the symptoms started
- Perpetuating factors: Things that happened after the symptoms started
Each of these can be broken down into biological, psychological and social factors. Biological factors may include other underlying medical conditions, accident or illness. Psychological factors can include how the symptoms impact your mental health. Social factors could be stressful or home environments. It is unclear why these to FND in some people, while others do not develop symptoms.
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