Not the Body, Not the Mind: Functional Disorders, Unexplained Symptoms and the Ubiquity of Social Distress

In the US, one patient on three seen in an epileptology clinic is diagnosed with a Functional Neurological
Disorder (FND). Nevertheless, their seizures look and feel exactly like epilepsy. FNDS are disorders
manifesting like well-known conditions, such as epilepsy or Parkinson disease, but lacking any of the
medical evidence required for such diagnoses. FND patients test negative to all examinations; they seem
biologically healthy, but they are severely impaired. Many of them are unable to work, and develop
depression and social withdrawal related to their condition. After a controversial history of dismissal,
accusations of malingering and stigma, and a long series of different labels, such as conversion,
psychosomatic disorder and even hysteria, FNDS are now gaining a growing interest from different
disciplines. This talk will present the preliminary results of a mixed-method project supported by the
National Science Foundation, the first project exploring FNDS from an anthropological perspective. It will
focus on the sociocultural factors impacting FNDS, in particular trauma (1), over-achiever and/or over-
burdened personalities (2) and other social stressors such as repeated miscommunication and/or exposure
to disorienting transitions (3). FNDS offer a unique observatory on the sociocultural scaffolding of health,
requiring to rethink deeply engrained assumptions about mind/body and individual/society divides. In this
line, the talk will explore the relationship between FNDS and migration, with a focus on the recent stream
of Miskitu people, and Afro-Indigenous population of Central America migrating to the US to escape
political persecution in Nicaragua.