Functional visual loss: II. Psychiatric aspects in 42 patients followed for 4 years

Abstract

SYNOPSIS: Forty-two patients with functional visual loss were followed for more than 4 years after presentation. Only 22 patients had a diagnosable psychiatric syndrome or personality disorder at follow-up. Twenty-three patients continued to have findings of functional visual loss at follow-up. Despite continued signs of functional visual loss, few were socially or economically impaired, and 8 of these 23 patients had no evidence of any psychiatric disorder. The implications of these findings are discussed.