Somatoform disorder

Somatoform disorder
Classification and external resources
ICD-10	F45
ICD-9	300.8
DiseasesDB	1645
eMedicine	med/3527
MeSH	D013001

In psychology, a somatoform disorder is a mental disorder characterized by physical symptoms that suggest physical illness or injury – symptoms that cannot be explained fully by a general medical condition, direct effect of a substance, or attributable to another mental disorder (e.g. panic disorder). The symptoms that result from a somatoform disorder are due to mental factors. In people who have a somatoform disorder, medical test results are either normal or do not explain the person's symptoms. Patients with this disorder often become worried about their health because the doctors are unable to find a cause for their health problems. This causes severe stress, due to preoccupations with the disorder that portrays an exaggerated belief about the severity of the disorder. Symptoms are sometimes similar to those of other illnesses and may last for several years. Usually, the symptoms begin appearing during adolescence, and patients are diagnosed before the age of 30 years. Symptoms may occur across cultures and gender. Other common symptoms include anxiety and depression. In order for an individual to be diagnosed with somatoform disorder, they must have recurring somatic complaints for several continuous years.

Somatoform disorders are not the result of conscious malingering (fabricating or exaggerating symptoms for secondary motives) or factitious disorders (deliberately producing, feigning, or exaggerating symptoms) – sufferers perceive their plight as real. Additionally, a somatoform disorder should not be confused with the more specific diagnosis of a somatization disorder. Mental disorders are treated separately from physiological or neurological disorders. Somatoform disorder is difficult to diagnose and treat since doing so requires psychiatrists to work with neurologists on patients with this disorder. Those that do not pass the diagnostic criteria for a somatoform disorder but still present physical symptoms are usually referred to as having "somatic preoccupation".

Recognized somatoform disorders

The somatoform disorders are actually a group of disorders, all of which fit the definition of physical symptoms that mimic physical disease or injury for which there is no identifiable physical cause; as such, they are a diagnosis of exclusion. They are recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association as the following:

• Conversion disorder
• Somatization disorder
• Hypochondriasis
• Body dysmorphic disorder
• Pain disorder
• Undifferentiated somatoform disorder – only one unexplained symptom is required for at least 6 months.

Included among these disorders are false pregnancy, psychogenic urinary retention, and mass psychogenic illness (so-called mass hysteria).

• Somatoform disorder Not Otherwise Specified (NOS)

The ICD-10 classifies conversion disorder as a dissociative disorder.

Proposed somatoform disorders

Additional proposed somatoform disorders are:

• Abridged somatization disorder – at least 4 unexplained somatic complaints in men and 6 in women
• Multisomatoform disorder – at least 3 unexplained somatic complaints from the PRIME-MD scale for at least 2 years of active symptoms

These disorders have been proposed because the recognized somatoform disorders are either too restrictive or too broad. In a study of 119 primary care patients, the following prevalences were found:

• Somatization disorder – 1%
• Abridged somatization disorder – 6%
• Multisomatoform disorder – 24%
• Undifferentiated somatoform disorder – 69%

DSM-IV-TR Diagnostic Criteria for Somatoform Disorder

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders fourth edition, DSM IV-TR,defines somatoform disorder as:

A. A history of many physical complaints beginning before age 30 years, occurring over several years, resulting in seeking treatment, or significant impairment.

B. Each one of the following criteria must have been met, with individual symptoms occurring at any time:

1. Four pain symptoms (related to different sites or functions)

2. Two gastrointestinal symptoms (other than pain)

3. One sexual symptom (other than pain)

4. One "pseudoneurological" symptom (not limited to pain)

C. Either (1) or (2):

1. after appropriate investigation, each of the symptoms cannot be fully explained by a known general medical condition (GMC) or direct effects of a substance. 2. when there is a related GMC, the physical complaints or resulting impairment are in excess of what would be expected from the history, physical examination, or laboratory findings.

D. The symptoms are not intentionally produced or feigned(as in factitious disorder or malingering).

See also

• Medically unexplained physical symptoms
• Munchausen syndrome by proxy
• Hysteria

External links

• What it is and how to cope at familydoctor.org