Sleeping blood,tremor and paralysis: A trans-cultural approach to an unusual conversion reaction

An unusual conversion reaction and a related folk belief system are described in a Cape Verdean-American woman. A clinical approach is presented which stresses the need to negotiate between professional and popular explanatory models of illness. It is suggested that a significant factor in the successful management of this patient's symptoms was the acceptance of a mutually-understandable idiom for communication and treatment.