Dr. Huntley's
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A diagnosis of disorders that are considered a neurosis or neurotic disorder may be missed or delayed for a wide variety of reasons. For example, people with neurosis may fear the stigma of or be embarrassed by mental illness and not seek treatment.
A diagnosis of neurosis can also be missed because symptoms of neurosis can be related to many other conditions, such as migraine headache, indigestion, GERD, hyperthyroidism and mitral valve prolapse. Symptoms can also be attributed to a normal behavioral adjustment to a traumatic event, such as a death of a loved one. At the same time, disorders that are considered a neurosis or neurotic disorder can go hand in hand with other conditions, such as depression....more about Neurosis »
For a diagnosis of Neurosis, the following list of conditions have been mentioned in sources as possible alternative diagnoses to consider during the diagnostic process for Neurosis:
Causes of Neurosis may include these medical conditions:
Parental fears about toddler behavior often unfounded: There are many behaviors in infants and toddlers that may give rise to a fear that the child has some form of mental health condition. In particular, there is a loss of fear of autism or ADHD in parents. However, parents should understand that the chances are higher that it's part of normal development, and perhaps just a "cute behavior" rather than a serious condition. Although parents should be vigilant about monitoring all aspects of their child's development and mental health, they should also take care not to over-worry and miss out on some of the delights of parenthood. For example, a young child that screams when you open his car door to take him out, then makes you put him back into the car to repeat it, so that he can open the car door himself, is not necessarily showing signs of autism or OCD, nor indeed any mental illness. There is a small possibility that it's an abnormality (a chance that increases with age of the child), but it's also the type of behavior seen in many normal children. See the introduction to autism and introduction to ADHD.
High rate of misdiagnosis of psychiatric disorders: The book "Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women" reports on studies that estimate that 41% to 83% of people who are treated for psychiatric disorders, actually have a misdiagnosed physical disorder. See Preventing Misdiagnosis of Women (by Klonoff and Landrine).
Various mental health symptoms caused by rare epilepsy: Temporal lobe epilepsy is a less common form of epilepsy that does not have the typical physical seizures. Patients can suffer from symptoms such as depression, moodiness, anger, irritability, and misdiagnosis of this condition as depression is common. Some patients also suffer hallucinations and other similar symptoms, or even severe psychotic symptoms, making a misdiagnosis of schizophrenia possible. Mood changes and behavioral symptoms also make a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder possible. See the overview of temporal lobe epilespy.
Multiple sclerosis often misdiagnosed as mental disorder: The early stages of multiple sclerosis may cause various general feelings of wellness, happiness, euphoria, or manic-type symptoms in some patients. These symptoms may lead to a misdiagnosis of bipolar disorder (manic-depressive disorder), hypomania, cyclothymia, histrionic personality disorder, or similar disorders. Other patients may show depressive symptoms as part of Multiple sclerosis and risk a misdiagnosis of depression (i.e. non-bipolar unipolar depression). Other possible misdiagnoses of multiple sclerosis include somatization disorder, conversion disorder, neurotic disorders, or other psychological disorders. See the overview of multiple sclerosis.
Common asymptomatic heart disorder can cause anxiety-like conditions: Anxiety symptoms may be due to heart disorder - There is a reasonably common heart disorder called Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP), that often remains undiagnosed in people. A relationship or association exists between anxiety-type symptoms, anxiety disorders, generalized anxiety disorders, agoraphobia, and MVP, such that MVP should be investigated as a possible underlying cause in some anxiety type symptoms.
Rare neurological disorder misdiagnosed as anxiety condition: Posterolateral sclerosis is an uncommon neurological disorder that can be misdiagnosed as an anxiety disorder. Symptoms such as peripheral numbness, weakness, or sensations, may be wrongly attributed to a psychological disorder.
Rare copper disease insidious and misdiagnosed: Wilson's disease (a form of copper overload) is a rare disorder that has a slow and insidious onset that can often fail to be diagnosed. Copper builds up in the liver and in the brain, usually in the late childhood, teens, or 20's. Brain changes can lead to a variety of neurological and psychological type symptoms, such as speech symptoms, language difficulty, behavioral symptoms, and various others. Possible misdiagnoses include depression, behavioral disorders, schizophrenia, mental retardation, learning difficulty, anxiety disorders, hysteria, and other psychological disorders. Physical symptoms related to liver damage, such as jaundice, often appear later, leading to the delayed diagnosis. See overview of Wilson's disease.
Rare cancer hidden cause of panic symptoms: The rare cancer pheochromocytoma, an adrenal tumor, can initially have symptoms similar to panic disorder. Its symptoms may include anxiety, panic, sweating, increased heart rate, and other symptoms. See the overview of pheochromocytoma.
Undiagnosed anxiety disorders related to depression: Patients with depression (see symptoms of depression) may also have undiagnosed anxiety disorders (see symptoms of anxiety disorders). Failure to diagnose these anxiety disorders may worsen the depression. See misdiagnosis of depression or misdiagnosis of anxiety disorders.
Pheochromocytoma can mimic an anxiety attack: Pheochromocytoma is a tumour of the adrenal glands which secretes excessive amounts of catecholamines such as epinephrine and nor-epinephrine. It usually occurs in young patients and is not an easily diagnosed as it is usually mistaken for an anxiety attack, essential hypertension or a case of hyperthyroidism. The patient usually presents with symptoms of sympathetic overactivity which leads to symptoms such as palpitation, anxiety, increased heart rate, headache and most importantly orthostatic hypotension etc. It is also associated with genetic syndromes such as multiple endocrine neoplasia syndromes. Early diagnosis is needed so that the tumour can be excised surgically.
Read these general articles with an overview of misdiagnosis issues.
When checking for a misdiagnosis of Neurosis or confirming a diagnosis of Neurosis, it is useful to consider what other medical conditions might be possible misdiagnoses or other alternative conditions relevant to diagnosis. These alternate diagnoses of Neurosis may already have been considered by your doctor or may need to be considered as possible alternative diagnoses or candidates for misdiagnosis of Neurosis. For a general overview of misdiagnosis issues for all diseases, see Overview of Misdiagnosis.
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