The Psychodynamics of "Functional Illness" Functional Visual Loss in Psychiatric Context

Functional visual loss is one manifestation of a wide range of clinical presentations of dysfunctional illness behavior that suffuses every aspect of clinical medicine. It presents as a neuro-ophthalmologic deficit but is in fact a form of dysfunctional psychosocial adaptation.The fact that it is a behavioral disturbance places it in the domain of psychiatry. The fact that it results in social and occupational impairment makes it a behavioral disorder. Unfortunately, although functional illness theoretically is a manifestation of a psychosocial disturbance, in practical reality, patients present in general medical settings and rarely accept referral for psychiatric care.