We present a case of a 16-year-old Caucasian female with a history of major depressive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder who was admitted to an inpatient adolescent psychiatric unit with symptoms of conversion disorder, including non-epileptic seizures, an inability to speak or walk, and not eating on her own. She has a history of multiple previous medical and psychiatric hospitalizations without any significant resolution of symptoms, and extensive medical workups have all been negative. Treatment ultimately involved reassuring the patient and family that there was no underlying medical condition and emphasizing the conversion disorder diagnosis. The patient participated daily in physical therapy to improve mobility, deconditioning, and functioning. Hospital staff was instructed on the nature of the non-epileptic seizures, which continued to occur during the hospitalization. After one month, the patient was discharged home fully functional: walking, speaking, and eating on her own. One week after discharge, the patient presented with the same symptoms and was readmitted to the psychiatric facility. She subsequently never regained her previous level of functioning, and she was ultimately transferred to a residential treatment facility. We will discuss factors that led to the initial improvement and the factors that led to recurrence and persistence of symptoms.

The present article aimed to analyze and describe the relationship between cognitive impairment and the perception of quality of life. The study was carried out in the psychiatric hospital within the Ecuadorian "Instituto de Neurociencias," with 50 patients, both men and women, between the ages of 18 and 65 years. An instrument for the screening of cognitive impairment in psychiatric patients, a questionnaire that measures quality of life, and a sociodemographic questionnaire were applied individually. Data collection took between 30 and 40 minutes per person. The results obtained allowed to verify the relationship between cognitive deterioration and quality of life. First, it was shown that while there was greater cognitive impairment, the perception of quality of life was low and vice versa. It was found that the areas of verbal learning, processing speed, and working memory are those that present greater difficulty for patients with this disorder.

SCiENCE AND tEChNOLOgy tERRORiSM AND hOMELAND SECURity this product is part of the RAND Corporation research brief series. RAND research briefs present policy-oriented summaries of published, peer-reviewed documents.

No abstract