Somatization

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Somatization is a tendency to experience and communicate psychological distress as bodily and organic symptoms and to seek medical help for them. [1] [2] More commonly expressed, it is the generation of physical symptoms of a psychiatric condition such as anxiety. The term somatization was introduced by Wilhelm Stekel in 1924. [3]

Contents

Somatization is a worldwide phenomenon. [4] A somatization spectrum can be identified, up to and including at one extreme somatization disorder.[ clarification needed ] [5]

Somatization can be, but is not always, related to a psychological condition such as: [6]

The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has classified somatoform disorders in the DSM-IV and the World Health Organization (WHO) have classified these in the ICD-10. Both classification systems use similar criteria. Most current practitioners will use one over the other, though in cases of borderline diagnoses, both systems may be referred to. In spite of extensive research over the last 20 years, researchers are still perplexed by somatoform disorders. [7]

Ego defense

In psychodynamic theory, somatization is conceptualized as an ego defense, the unconscious rechannelling of repressed emotions into somatic symptoms as a form of symbolic communication (organ language). [8]

Sigmund Freud's famous case study of Anna O. featured a woman who suffered from numerous physical symptoms, which Freud believed were the result of repressed grief over her father's illness, although treatment did not resolve her symptoms and later research is skeptical of Freud's diagnosis. [9]

Children

While it is normal for stresses and strains in a child's life to be expressed in bodily pains/upsets, [10] there is evidence that children in families where bodily complaints receive special attention are significantly more likely to use somatization as a defence in later life. [11]

Treatment

Treatment for somatic symptom disorders combine different strategies for managing the patient's symptoms, including regularly scheduled outpatient visits, psychosocial interventions (such as joint meetings with family members), [12] psychoeducation, and treatment of prominent comorbid symptoms of anxiety or depression.

Based on multiple systematic reviews, [13] [14] the initial suggested treatment for somatic disorder is regular, scheduled outpatient visits (every 4–8 weeks) that are not based on active symptoms. These visits should focus on establishing a therapeutic alliance, legitimizing the somatic symptoms, and limiting diagnostic tests and referral to specialists.

Cultural examples

Author Virginia Woolf's mental and emotional difficulties were often expressed directly in physical symptoms: "Such 'sensations' spread over my spine & head...the horror – physically like a painful wave about the heart". [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

Psychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary medical field exploring the relationships among social, psychological, behavioral factors on bodily processes and quality of life in humans and animals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hypochondriasis</span> Medical condition

Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. Hypochondria is an old concept whose meaning has repeatedly changed over its lifespan. It has been claimed that this debilitating condition results from an inaccurate perception of the condition of body or mind despite the absence of an actual medical diagnosis. An individual with hypochondriasis is known as a hypochondriac. Hypochondriacs become unduly alarmed about any physical or psychological symptoms they detect, no matter how minor the symptom may be, and are convinced that they have, or are about to be diagnosed with, a serious illness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somatization disorder</span> Mental disorder consisting of clinically significant somatic symptoms

Somatization disorder was a mental and behavioral disorder characterized by recurring, multiple, and current, clinically significant complaints about somatic symptoms. It was recognized in the DSM-IV-TR classification system, but in the latest version DSM-5, it was combined with undifferentiated somatoform disorder to become somatic symptom disorder, a diagnosis which no longer requires a specific number of somatic symptoms. ICD-10, the latest version of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, still includes somatization syndrome.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conversion disorder</span> Diagnostic category used in some psychiatric classification systems

Conversion disorder (CD), or functional neurologic symptom disorder, is a diagnostic category used in some psychiatric classification systems. It is sometimes applied to patients who present with neurological symptoms, such as numbness, blindness, paralysis, or fits, which are not consistent with a well-established organic cause, which cause significant distress, and can be traced back to a psychological trigger. It is thought that these symptoms arise in response to stressful situations affecting a patient's mental health or an ongoing mental health condition such as depression. Conversion disorder was retained in DSM-5, but given the subtitle functional neurological symptom disorder. The new criteria cover the same range of symptoms, but remove the requirements for a psychological stressor to be present and for feigning to be disproved. The ICD-10 classifies conversion disorder as a dissociative disorder, and the ICD-11 as a dissociative disorder with unspecified neurological symptoms. However, the DSM-IV classifies conversion disorder as a somatoform disorder.

Hwabyeong or Hwapyŏng is a Korean somatization disorder, a mental illness which arises when people are unable to confront their anger as a result of conditions which they perceive to be unfair. Hwabyeong is known as a Korean culture-bound syndrome. Hwabyeong is a colloquial name, and it refers to the etiology of the disorder rather than its symptoms or apparent characteristics. In one survey, 4.1% of the general population in a rural area in Korea were reported as having hwabyeong. Hwabyeong is similar to Amuk.

Pain disorder is chronic pain experienced by a patient in one or more areas, and is thought to be caused by psychological stress. The pain is often so severe that it disables the patient from proper functioning. Duration may be as short as a few days or as long as many years. The disorder may begin at any age, and occurs more frequently in girls than boys. This disorder often occurs after an accident, during an illness that has caused pain, or after withdrawing from use during drug addiction, which then takes on a 'life' of its own.

Medically unexplained physical symptoms are symptoms for which a treating physician or other healthcare providers have found no medical cause, or whose cause remains contested. In its strictest sense, the term simply means that the cause for the symptoms is unknown or disputed—there is no scientific consensus. Not all medically unexplained symptoms are influenced by identifiable psychological factors. However, in practice, most physicians and authors who use the term consider that the symptoms most likely arise from psychological causes. Typically, the possibility that MUPS are caused by prescription drugs or other drugs is ignored. It is estimated that between 15% and 30% of all primary care consultations are for medically unexplained symptoms. A large Canadian community survey revealed that the most common medically unexplained symptoms are musculoskeletal pain, ear, nose, and throat symptoms, abdominal pain and gastrointestinal symptoms, fatigue, and dizziness. The term MUPS can also be used to refer to syndromes whose etiology remains contested, including chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity and Gulf War illness.

Somatic anxiety, also known as somatization, is the physical manifestation of anxiety. It is commonly contrasted with cognitive anxiety, which is the mental manifestation of anxiety, or the specific thought processes that occur during anxiety, such as concern or worry. These different components of anxiety are especially studied in sports psychology, specifically relating to how the anxiety symptoms affect athletic performance.

A functional symptom is a medical symptom with no known physical cause. In other words, there is no structural or pathologically defined disease to explain the symptom. The use of the term 'functional symptom' does not assume psychogenesis, only that the body is not functioning as expected. Functional symptoms are increasingly viewed within a framework in which 'biological, psychological, interpersonal and healthcare factors' should all be considered to be relevant for determining the aetiology and treatment plans.

Somatosensory amplification (SSA) is a tendency to perceive normal somatic and visceral sensations as being relatively intense, disturbing and noxious. It is a common feature of hypochondriasis and is commonly found with fibromyalgia, major depressive disorder, some anxiety disorders, Asperger syndrome, and alexithymia. One common clinical measure of SSA is the Somatosensory Amplification Scale (SSAS).

Psychogenic pain is physical pain that is caused, increased, or prolonged by mental, emotional, or behavioral factors, without evidence of physical injury or illness.

Functional disorder is an umbrella term for a group of recognisable medical conditions which are due to changes to the functioning of the systems of the body rather than due to a disease affecting the structure of the body.

Somatic symptom disorder, also known as somatoform disorder, is defined by one or more chronic physical symptoms that coincide with excessive and maladaptive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors connected to those symptoms. The symptoms are not purposefully produced or feigned, and they may or may not coexist with a known medical ailment.

The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ) is a multiple-choice self-report inventory that is used as a screening and diagnostic tool for mental health disorders of depression, anxiety, alcohol, eating, and somatoform disorders. It is the self-report version of the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders (PRIME-MD), a diagnostic tool developed in the mid-1990s by Pfizer Inc. The length of the original assessment limited its feasibility; consequently, a shorter version, consisting of 11 multi-part questions - the Patient Health Questionnaire was developed and validated.

The Somatic Symptom Scale - 8 (SSS-8) is a brief self-report questionnaire used to assess somatic symptom burden. It measures the perceived burden of common somatic symptoms. These symptoms were originally chosen to reflect common symptoms in primary care but they are relevant for a large number of diseases and mental disorders. The SSS-8 is a brief version of the popular Patient Health Questionnaire - 15 (PHQ-15).

The term functional somatic syndrome (FSS) refers to a group of chronic diagnoses with no identifiable organic cause. This term was coined by Hemanth Samkumar. It encompasses disorders such as chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, chronic widespread pain, temporomandibular disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, lower back pain, tension headache, atypical face pain, non-cardiac chest pain, insomnia, palpitation, dyspepsia and dizziness. General overlap exists between this term, somatization and somatoform.

The Somatic Symptom Disorder - B Criteria Scale (SSD-12) is a brief self-report questionnaire used to assess the B criteria of DSM-5 somatic symptom disorder, i.e. the patients’ perceptions of their symptom-related thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winfried Rief</span> German psychologist

Winfried Rief (born 12 May 1959) is a German psychologist. Since 2000 he has been a professor of clinical psychology and psychotherapy at the University of Marburg. Rief's research examines the psychological factors involved in the development, maintenance and management of physical complaints, including investigations of somatic symptom disorders and placebo effects. Rief is the founding editor of the academic journal Clinical Psychology in Europe.

According to the psychoanalytic explanation of psychosomatic illness, organ language is the bodily expression of an unconscious conflict as a form of symbolic communication. It is also called organ-speech, a term that Sigmund Freud uses in his 1915 essay "The Unconscious" attributing its coinage to Victor Tausk.

Laurence J. Kirmayer is a Canadian psychiatrist and internationally recognized expert in culture and mental health. He is James McGill Professor and Director of the Division of Social and Transcultural Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, McGill University. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and the Royal Society of Canada

References

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  2. Adriana Feder, M.D. Somatization
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  4. P. S. Sutker/H. E. Adams, Comprehensive Handbook of Psychopathology (2001) p. 217
  5. Woolfolk/Allen, pp. 14–5
  6. Smith RC, Gardiner JC, Lyles JS, et al. (2005). "Exploration of DSM-IV criteria in primary care patients with medically unexplained symptoms". Psychosomatic Medicine. 67 (1): 123–9. doi:10.1097/01.psy.0000149279.10978.3e. PMC   1894627 . PMID   15673634.
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  10. D. W. Winnicott, The Child, the Family, and the Outside World (1973) p. 129
  11. Woolfolk/Allen, p. 217
  12. Woolfolk, pp. 41–3
  13. Gordon-Elliott, Janna S.; Muskin, Philip R. (November 2010). "An approach to the patient with multiple physical symptoms or chronic disease". The Medical Clinics of North America. 94 (6): 1207–1216, xi. doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2010.08.007. ISSN   1557-9859. PMID   20951278.
  14. Croicu, Carmen; Chwastiak, Lydia; Katon, Wayne (September 2014). "Approach to the patient with multiple somatic symptoms". The Medical Clinics of North America. 98 (5): 1079–1095. doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2014.06.007. ISSN   1557-9859. PMID   25134874.
  15. Quoted in Hermione Lee, Virginia Woolf (1996) p. 187