Final answer:
Conversion disorder is a somatoform disorder where psychological stress is expressed through physical symptoms without a medical explanation, differing from antisocial personality disorder or dissociative disorders.
Step-by-step explanation:
When emotional reactions or problems manifest as sudden physical dysfunctions, such as not being able to walk, the condition is known as conversion disorder. Conversion disorder is a type of somatoform disorder where psychological stress is expressed through physical symptoms that cannot be explained by a medical condition. Unlike antisocial personality disorder, which involves a long-standing pattern of disregard for other people, or dissociative disorders, which involve disruptions of memory, awareness, identity, or perception, conversion disorder specifically denotes the transmission of emotional disturbances into physical symptoms.
It's important to understand that in conversion disorder the symptoms are real, and the individual is not consciously producing them. Mental illnesses, such as those related to mood, personality, and other neurological disorders, significantly impact a person's quality of life. The physical symptoms evident in psychophysiological disorders are genuinely experienced by the individual but have a significant psychological component.