Jan. 18 update: the day after TODAY reported on the baffling case of 12 teenage girls at one school who mysteriously fell ill with Tourette’s-like symptoms of tics and verbal outbursts, a doctor who is treating some of the girls has come forward to offer an explanation. Dr. Laszlo Mechtler, a neurologist in Amherst, N.Y., says the diagnosis is “conversion disorder,” or mass hysteria.

“It’s happened before, all around the world, in different parts of the world. It’s a rare phenomena. Physicians are intrigued by it,” Mechtler told TODAY. “The bottom line is these teenagers will get better.”

Tuesday on the show, psychologist and TODAY contributor Dr. Gail Saltz noted that just because the girls’ symptoms are psychological in origin doesn’t make them any less real or painful.

“That’s not faking it. They’re real symptoms,” Saltz continued. “they need a psychiatric or psychological treatment. Treatment does work.’’

Officials from the LeRoy Junior-Senior High School in upstate new York, where all the girls attended when their symptoms began, have released environmental reports, conducted by an outside agency, showing no substances in any of the school buildings that could cause health problems.

Related: Click here to read the school district’s statement and full environmental reports

But some of the girls’ parents say they’re not satisfied with the explanations so far.

“Obviously we are all not just accepting that this is a stress thing,” Jim Dupont, father of one of the affected girls, told TODAY. “It’s heart wrenching, you fear your daughter’s not going to have a normal life.”

Read the original story, below.

By Scott Stump

High school cheerleader and art student Thera Sanchez  took a quick nap one day last October, and when she woke up, the life she had known was gone.

In its place, she was plagued by uncontrollable body movements, tics and verbal outbursts, similar to Tourette’s syndrome. It turned out Sanchez was not alone, as she is one of 12 girls from LeRoy Junior-Senior High School in upstate new York who has been exhibiting symptoms of a mysterious condition that has baffled doctors.

“I’m very angry,’’ Sanchez told TODAY’s Ann Curry during an interview Tuesday. “I’m very frustrated. No one’s giving me answers.’’

Sanchez appeared on TODAY alongside her mother, Melisa Phillips, as well as another one of the girls experiencing the symptoms, Katie Krautwurst, and her mother, Elizabeth Miller.

The mothers of the two girls are fighting for answers after state health officials determined that nothing at the high school itself could have triggered the mass illness. each girl has been examined by a private doctor and given a diagnosis. after a three-and-a-half month investigation, health officials ruled out carbon monoxide, illegal drugs and other factors as potential causes.  Officials say no one at the school is in any danger.

Related: Click here to read the school district’s statement and full environmental reports

“We have conclusively ruled out any form of infection or communicable disease and there’s no evidence of any environmental factor,’’ Dr. Gregory Young of the new York Department of Health told NBC News.

“Where’s the proof?’’ Phillips asked on TODAY. “Where’s the data? Where’s the testing? when has this been done? Nothing’s been collectively done for our daughters. Everything has been done individually. Testing they say that all the girls have had, they have not had. the facts that they’re stating just aren’t true.’’

The girls did not say what diagnosis they have been given, only that doctors have told them the onset of their symptoms was stress-related.

Sanchez, a 17-year-old senior and former cheerleader, displayed uncontrollable movements and verbal tics during the interview, while the symptoms of Krautwurst, a high school junior, were not as pronounced.  

“Mine’s more advanced, I think, because I’ve had it longer, but it’s definitely gotten better,’’ said Krautwurst.  Meanwhile, Sanchez said her own condition is getting worse.

On Oct. 7, Sanchez took a power nap, and when she woke up, she started stuttering uncontrollably and has been exhibiting her symptoms ever since, according to her mother. Since then, she has quit cheerleading and regularly attending her beloved art classes.

“mostly that it’s stress-induced,’’ Sanchez said about what doctors told her. “I was fine. I was perfectly fine. There was nothing going on, and then I just woke up, and that’s when the stuttering started.”

“I can’t explain it,’’ Krautwurst said. “they told us it was traumatic, but I really don’t think any of us had that traumatic of a life before.’’

Psychologist and TODAY contributor Gail Saltz said she could not make any specific diagnosis having just met the girls, but she stressed that just because the cause may be psychological doesn’t mean the symptoms – or the pain the girls are experiencing – is fake.

“when you’ve ruled everything out and they’re saying to you it’s stress-related, then you might call it something called ‘conversion disorder’ or ‘psychosomatic illness,’ which means that symptoms have been converted from something psychological into something physical,’’ Saltz said. “It usually is predated by stress.”

“That’s not faking it. They’re real symptoms,” Saltz continued. “they need a psychiatric or psychological treatment. Treatment does work.’’

For Sanchez, all she wants is to know what is happening to her and why.

“I want an answer,’’ she said. “a straight answer.’’

 What’s your theory on this medical mystery? Discuss on our Facebook page.

The colour of hope is green!

“Red, orange, blue, yellow. If you want any other colour, I can even make it in that,” says Shahid,  excitedly showing off the beautiful collection of bangles that he and his wife had made. not too long ago, it was this same man who had just one colour left to see in life — black. Shahid had gone blind in the prime of his life.

“He was suffering from conversion disorder,” says one of Shahid’s doctors. She is sporting a set of bangles that Shahid had made, and she is not the only one. Shahid’s bangles are quite the rage in the psychiatry department of one of the Karachi’s biggest public hospitals… the same hospital where Shahid once lay as a patient, both helpless and hopeless.

“My elder brother had died… leaving behind a wife and three children,” Shahid doesn’t make eye contact as he tells his tale, focusing instead on the tray on which he is meticulously setting mid-day snacks. “I now had to be a father to these children and take care of my sister-in-law as well.” Shahid looks deep into the pan of boiling water as if he can see his own life simmering down to a boil in it. “My family thought that it was only fitting that I marry her.”

The tea is ready. Shahid places the cups in the tray and scurries to the doctors’ room, right next to the ward where he was once admitted.

“Shahid has been working in this ward ever since he has recovered. It’s not just the snacks, tea or bangles but the hope that he brings to us about our profession that matters,” says Shahid’s doctor.

The lines on his forehead are a reminder of the psychological trauma that once bound Shahid to the hospital bed.

“Once psychological stress surpasses a certain threshold, it ‘converts’ into physical symptoms,” explains Shahid’s doctor. “Many patients suffer fits — Shahid came to us blinded, unable to move or even talk…”

“I needed a refuge like anyone else in trouble,” says Shahid as he relives his painful past. “I became a ghutka addict.”

Eventually, Shahid developed the worst kind of oral fibrosis. He could hardly open his mouth. with the fear of being orphaned again upon his children, Shahid’s new family could only hope for a miracle. and a miracle they got, in the next forty days as Shahid lay on bed number 16, dreading otherwise.

“While his oral fibrosis was curtailed with medicine, Shahid’s conversion disorder could only be treated with rigorous psychotherapy.” A team of doctors and psychologists set about rekindling what Shahid had lost along the way — hope.

Like an ostrich buries its head in the ground when it faces trouble, Shahid neither wanted to see the obstacles in his way nor could he muster up the courage to fight them. He was both blind and incapacitated. It was his mind that needed healing.

“Shahid’s recovery was not possible without his family’s support, especially his wife,” says the doctor.

Shahid’s wife Razia is a strong woman with a sturdy face.  Older than Shahid, she had to overcome her own misery to pull Shahid out from the abyss of depression and save her family from falling apart, again.

With every session, Shahid’s dwindled hopes began to be reignited. According to the doctor, “A miracle was happening.”

Though Shahid has been discharged, his treatment continues. “The work that I do here, this is my treatment,” he says. Staying busy is the key to Shahid’s solace.

“He needs to be distracted from stress and there is no better distraction than work,” say his doctors.

After he wraps up his work, Shahid heads back home to a small shack in Korangi. Razia is busy preparing supper. Afterwards, both Shahid and Razia sit down in a corner with the humble kit they use to make their bangles with. while Razia puts the final joint in the bangles, Shahid dives in to the box of colours. Red, blue, orange, yellow. He picks one, then another and another till he takes his final pick, the colour he has chosen for his life, the colour of rebirth, the colour of hope — green!

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, March 13th, 2011.

If a hypochondriac thought that they could have a variety if stds because of a big increase in vaginal discharge can that person actually make themselves have symptoms of herpes, syphillis, HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, etc. especially after obssessively looking on information about all kinds of stds? Or could they really be having symptoms from the actual diseases? your help is very much appreciated.

Conversion disorder: a psychiatric disorder where a person has physical symptoms but no medical explaination. Secondary gains are present, usually the person needs to get attention or check out of life for a bit due to stress.
In the hospital, I see pts with conversion d/o frequently, usually with stroke symptoms. Hysterical pregnancy is possible to. I'm not sure why you would want to have symptoms of an infection, but it is possible.
"medical student's disease" is another one, a form of hypochindria, where excessively looking up diagnoses and seeing pts with then makes you think you have it too. Common with GI problems.
Basically a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous. the body is designed to run and maintains itself pretty well.
If you're concerned about something, go get tested.

Yes. Hypochondria can make a person go crazy, and after a while symptoms can actually appear!
Also remember cyberchondria – hypochondria induced by obsessive web searches. Unfortunately looking online for information about a disease can have us all convinced that we have cancer. In most cases a web search escalates fears and does more damage than good.

Here is a helpful article about Cyberchondria. myvoice.mygofer.com/mission_possi…

Hopefully you don't obsess over your ailments. Stay off the internet!

Here is my link of a question…

answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AvPpx27uy6BnP70aFPXcBXDsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20110103081501AAx3Ind

People have even said I am worrying too much, and I actually have(don't know if I still do I got to the doctor today to see if it's still in me) Chlamydia… I have done the post a lot and one girl even said I should stop posting it. One guy said that he felt bad for my bf and that I was sick and that's what I get, so, I don't know… I am STILL worried, but if you read my post tell me what you think…