F44 — Dissociative [conversion] disorders

Concept, in one sentence

F44 requires a genuine, involuntary loss or alteration of memory, identity, movement, or sensation, without organic cause and without evidence of intentional production.

Decisive boundary cues

• Sudden, stressor-linked loss of function, inconsistent with organic disease, no adequate medical explanation -> weighs toward F44.
• A pattern fully consistent with a specific neurological lesion, or positive medical findings -> weighs toward an organic cause instead.
• Specific evidence of deliberate, incentive-driven production -> weighs toward malingering, outside this block, not F44.

Duration/course cue

Variable — often resolves once the stressor is addressed or with time; some presentations are more persistent.

Nearest alternatives

f43, f45

Common mistake

Assuming a dissociative or conversion symptom is consciously feigned without specific evidence of deliberate, incentive-driven production.

Retrieval prompt — one-line memory anchor

Has an adequate organic cause genuinely been excluded, and is there any actual evidence this symptom is being intentionally produced?