A client unable to move their fingers reports significant stress at home due to recent relationship issues. What disorder might this indicate?

The presence of significant stress in the client’s life coupled with the inability to move their fingers suggests the possibility of conversion disorder. This condition involves neurological symptoms that are inconsistent with or cannot be fully explained by medical or neurological conditions. In conversion disorder, psychological stressors or conflicts manifest as physical symptoms, such as paralysis, weakness, or loss of function, which do not have an identifiable medical cause.

In this case, the client’s reported stress due to relationship issues aligns with the triggers often associated with conversion disorder, where emotional distress converts into physical symptoms. The inability to move fingers here may symbolize an emotional struggle, making this diagnosis more probable than others that relate to different psychological mechanisms. Other disorders like severe anxiety, PTSD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder typically present with different symptoms and do not directly lead to such specific motor dysfunction without an underlying physical cause.