Somatic Symptom Disorder is a mental disorder characterized by persistent and clinically significant somatic complaints coupled with excessive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors about the symptoms. There are four types of somatic symptom disorders including complex somatic symptom disorder, factitious disorder, conversion disorder, and somatic symptoms not otherwise specified. Diagnosis requires one or more somatic symptoms as well as excessive somatic concerns. Common somatic symptoms include headaches, stomach aches, and in rare cases, blindness or inability to walk. Somatic Symptom Disorder prevalence ranges from 1.5-21% depending on age, with stress and trauma as potential biological and environmental contributors. Treatment involves psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy, though convincing patients the symptoms are mental not physical can be challenging.

1. Somatic Symptom Disorder
Stacey Buchanan Going
November 24th, 2013

2. What is Somatic Symptom
Disorder?


A mental disorder with persistent and
clinically somatic complaints
This is coupled with:
−
Excessive thoughts, feelings and rash
behaviors about the symptoms
−
Ranges from mild to severe

3. Types of Somatic Symptom
Disorders

Four somatic symptom disorders listed
−
Complex somatic symptom disorder
−
Factitious Disorder
−
Conversion Disorder
−
Somatic Symptoms (not otherwise
specified)

4. DSM V Criteria for Diagnosis



One or more somatic symptoms
Excessive thoughts, feelings, behaviors
that relate to somatic symptoms (or
associated w/ health concerns
Somatic symptom does not have to always
be present but must be persistent

5. Examples of Somatic Symptoms

Headaches

Stomach aches

Even as severe as blindness, or inability to
walk
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Most likely in Conversion disorder

6. Prevalence of Somatic Symptom
Disorder

Hilderink et al 2012
−
11 to 21% in younger adults
−
10 to 20% in middle age adults
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1.5 to 13% in older adults

7. Biological/Environmental Factors


Most well known cause: stress or exposure
to trauma
Strong correlation between anxiety,
depression, and somatic symptoms

8. Treatments

Psychotherapy

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy

Hard to treat because
−
Hard to convince patient it is not an
actual medical symptom
−
For factitious disorder- you treat the
behavior not the illness

9. Future Research


Anxiety causes somatic symptoms or does
somatic symptoms cause anxiety?
Changes from the DSM-IV and V
−
How does it effect the prevalence of
disorder
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Will it lead to more misdiagnosis

10. Implications


Not much known about treatments of
somatic symptom disorder
The least known about somatic disorder is
Conversion Disorder
−
Because of the severity and the inability
to find anything medically wrong with
them
−
The symptoms disappear as fast as they
appear