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Functional tremors in older people: an individualised approach is required
Author(s) -
Chalkley Joe,
Ruhi Shamim
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
progress in neurology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.19
H-Index - 12
eISSN - 1931-227X
pISSN - 1367-7543
DOI - 10.1002/pnp.507
Subject(s) - event (particle physics) , psychology , relaxation (psychology) , quality of life (healthcare) , audiology , cognitive psychology , developmental psychology , physical medicine and rehabilitation , neuroscience , medicine , psychotherapist , physics , quantum mechanics
There is debate as to the most appropriate and accurate description of functional movement disorders (FMDs). In this article, Dr Chalkley and Dr Ruhi discuss the characteristics of FMDs and specifically look at two patients' tremors that were entirely distractible and variable in direction, amplitude and frequency. They describe similar onset and development of their symptoms: hand tremors starting after a traumatic event, which then progressed to the whole body. Despite this, there were multiple differences between the cases; of note, the effect of emotion, exercise and relaxation were completely opposing. They conclude that a traumatic life event may trigger a cascade of somatic symptoms, how personalised approaches to psychological therapy are of importance and crucially that more high‐quality research is needed to make evidence‐based decisions on the management of FMDs.