Overview
Overview – Somatic Symptoms and Related Disorders
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders describes a group of mental illnesses relating to symptoms in the human body: the word somatic simply meaning dealing with the body. The symptoms reported are usually associated with distress and some type of physical impairment. They are often reported as being substantially more severe than one would generally expect. Often no medical explanation for the disorder can be identified. If there is an underlying pathology it tends to be linked with very highly exaggerated responses. There may be physical symptoms present including pain, fatigue, and shortness of breath. However, the individual typically reacts to the symptoms in an abnormal manner. A distinctive characteristic of many individuals with somatic symptom disorders is that it is less about the somatic symptoms themselves and more about the way in which the individual interprets and reacts to the symptoms.
There is an emphasis by the clinician on making a diagnosis based on the positive symptoms and signs (distressing somatic symptoms as well as the abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in response to these symptoms) rather than on the absence of a medical explanation for somatic symptoms. Individuals may:
- Become extremely anxious about symptoms
- Be excessively concerned about mild symptoms as a sign of serious disease
- Fail to be reassured even after multiple medical evaluations/healthcare visits
- Frequently check their body for abnormalities
- Think that the physician is not taking their symptoms seriously enough
- Spend a lot of time, energy, and money addressing health concerns
- Be so preoccupied with feelings and thoughts about their symptoms that it interferes with their work, or school, or other activities of daily living
Somatic Symptoms and Related Disorders presents information on four types of disorders, one type each day for four days. These are:
- Somatic Symptom Disorder
- Illness Anxiety Disorder
- Conversion Disorder
- Factitious Disorder
On the fifth day, the Team reviews each of the Somatic Symptoms and Related Disorders, helping you to fix the information in your memory and to reaffirm the strategies for dealing with each type. Typically, the average person needs to review information three or four times to move it from short-term memory into long-term memory.
This concludes the Overview for Somatic Symptoms and Related Disorders
