Treatment of Functional (Psychogenic) Tremor with a Mirror Box: A Case Report

Scheub T and Lieberman A

Department of Neurology, Barrow Neurological Institute, USA

^*Correspondance to: Abraham Lieberman 

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Abstract:

An 18 year old right handed woman presented to the Muhammad Ali Parkinson Center (MAPC) at the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) with a marked tremor of her right hand. The tremor was disabling, preventing or hindering her from performing her activities of daily living (ADLs). An evaluation including a detailed neurological examination, brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a dopamine transporter scan (DAT- scan) was unrevealing. She did not have Parkinson disease (PD), or Essential Tremor (ET), or dystonic or task- specific tremor. She was diagnosed with a functional (psychogenic) tremor. She denied being anxious or depressed. There was no obvious secondary gain from her tremor: she was not working, was not claiming disability, and was living at home with her parents. She refused to accept a psychological or psychiatrist evaluation. She was referred for occupational therapy with a “mirror box”. A “mirror box” is a box with two mirrors in the center one facing each way originally invented to alleviate phantom limb pain by “tricking” the patient into believing the amputated limb is whole, moving, and painless. It has subsequently been adapted to treat a number of functional disorders. In our patientthe “mirror box” relieved her tremor.

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Cite the Article:

Scheub T, Lieberman A. Treatment of Functional (Psychogenic) Tremor with a Mirror Box: A Case Report. Ann Clin Case Rep. 2016; 1: 1054.