By Associated Press,

LEROY, N.Y. — A dozen western New York high school girls have developed involuntary tics and other symptoms, and a doctor said Friday that at least 10 of them are suffering from a psychological condition usually brought on by stress or a frightening condition.

Parents became concerned there might have been environmental contamination or an infection at LeRoy High School when the girls all started showing symptoms like unexplained pain and involuntary muscle motion last fall.

But air quality and other tests conducted by local health officials ruled out mold, chemicals and other sources of the girls’ problems.

That helped Dr. Laszlo Mechtler and another neurologist treating 10 of the girls conclude that the cause is conversion disorder, a condition that causes real symptoms but has no physical cause.

It’s diagnosed, he said, when physical examinations, lab tests and scans, including the brain, reveal no organic problem behind symptoms that include vocal and physical tics, seizures, passing out, headaches and anxiety.

Mechtler likened it to the dizziness, vomiting and aches of an actor with stage fright.

“The physical symptoms they’re having are real. The patient isn’t faking it,” he said.

read full article Washington Post, 1/20/2012