Somatoform Disorder
Somatoform disorders are characterized by excessive focus on physical ailments, such as pain or tiredness. These physical symptoms cause an individual extreme mental distress and significant impairment in everyday functioning. A person with a somatoform disorder will constantly obsess over their symptoms while frantically searching for a plausible explanation for them.
Types of Somatoform Disorders
Different somatoform disorders are distinguished by thoughts, emotions and actions related to somatic symptoms. There are seven types of somatoform disorders where individuals present with a multitude of clinically significant symptoms that cannot be explained, including:
Somatization disorder
Conversion disorder
Pain disorder
Hypochondriasis
Other specified somatic symptom and related disorder
Unspecified somatic symptom and related disorder
disorder
Somatization Disorder
Somatization disorder occurs when a person continually complains of physical symptoms when there is no physical condition present to cause the symptoms. A somatization disorder diagnosis requires that a person must experience inexplicable physical symptoms that start before age 30, have symptoms that persist for several years and involve pain, stomach complaints, sexual issues and neurological problems.
Conversion Disorder
Conversion disorder occurs when physical symptoms mimic symptoms of a neurological disorder even though no neurological disorder is present. Symptoms may include paralysis, vision or hearing loss, or seizures. A conversion disorder is generally the result of trauma and impacts a person’s senses and movement.
Pain Disorder
Somatoform pain disorder is characterized by recurring pain in one or more parts of the body with no known cause. A pain disorder diagnosis is given when pain cannot be accounted for by a medical or other disorder, when pain causes considerable distress and when psychological factors play a significant role in the onset, magnitude and duration of the pain.
Hypochondriasis
Hypochondriasis occurs when a person believes that normal bodily signs or minor symptoms are evidence of a severe illness, even when medical tests and assessments prove otherwise. Physical symptoms may either be real or imagined. Hypochondriasis was removed from the fifth edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) and replaced with somatic symptom disorder and illness anxiety disorder.
Other Specified Somatic Symptom and Related Disorder
Somatoform disorder not otherwise specified is a diagnosis used for symptoms that meet many — but not all — of the required criteria for a somatoform disorder diagnosis. Presentations that may be specified using this designation include:
Brief somatic symptoms disorder
Brief illness anxiety disorder
Illness anxiety disorder without excessive health-related behaviors
Unspecified Somatic Symptom and Related Disorder
Like the specific somatic symptom and related disorders diagnosis, undifferentiated somatoform disorder applies to individuals who have symptoms characteristic of somatic disorders that do.
Symptoms of Somatoform Disorders
Thoughts, emotions and behaviors associated with somatoform disorders may consist of the following:
Persistent worry about possible sickness
Interpretation of normal bodily sensations as an indication of severe physical sickness
Fear that symptoms are dire or life-threatening in the absence of facts or medical confirmation.
Excessive visits to a physician or hospital that never alleviate concerns
More significant impairment than what is commonly expected from a medical circumstance
Somatoform Disorder Treatment
Somatoform disorder treatment aims to enhance a person’s daily functioning by reducing their physical symptoms or improving their ability to cope with them. Treatment plans for these conditions usually consist of psychotherapy and medication.
Psychotherapy is beneficial in the treatment of a somatoform disorder because physical symptoms are usually related to underlying psychological conditions.