Somatization disorder (or Briquet's disorder) is a type of mental illness in which a patient manifests a psychiatric condition as a physical complaint. One prevalent general etiological explanation is that internal psychological conflicts are unconsciously expressed as physical signs. The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) provides codes to classify diseases and a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or disease. ... The following codes are used with International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. ... // F00-F99 - Mental and behavioural disorders (F00-F09) Organic, including symptomatic, mental disorders (F00) Dementia in Alzheimers disease (F01) Vascular dementia (F011) Multi-infarct dementia (F02) Dementia in other diseases classified elsewhere (F020) Dementia in Picks disease (F021) Dementia in Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (F022) Dementia in Huntingtons... The International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (commonly known by the abbreviation ICD) provides codes to classify diseases and a wide variety of signs, symptoms, abnormal findings, complaints, social circumstances and external causes of injury or disease. ... The following is a list of codes for International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems. ... Mental Illness is a concept in psychiatry and other mental health professions referring to mental abnormality associated with distress and/or dysfunction. ... Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that studies and treats mental and emotional disorders (see mental illness). ... This article needs more context around or a better explanation of technical details to make it more accessible to general readers and technical readers outside the specialty, without removing technical details. ... Etiology (alternately aetiology, aitiology) is the study of causation. ... Psychology (ancient Greek: psyche = soul and logos = word) is the study of mind, thought, and behaviour. ... This article may contain original research or unverified claims. ...

Criteria

Somatization disorder is characterized by repeated complaints of physical illness over an extended period of time, that are not related to actual organic illness or injury, and begins in early adulthood. It is a somatoform disorder. The DSM-IV establishes the following five criteria for the diagnosis of this disorder: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual published by the American Psychiatric Association The poopDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), published by the American Psychiatric Association, is the handbook used most often in diagnosing mental disorders in the United States. ...

• a history of somatic symptoms prior to the age of 30
• pain in at least four different sites on the body
• two gastrointestinal problems other than pain such as vomiting or diarrhea
• one sexual symptom such as lack of interest or erectile dysfunction
• one pseudoneurological symptom similar to those seen in Conversion disorder such as fainting or blindness.

Such symptoms cannot be related to any medical condition. The symptoms do not all have to be occurring at the same time, but may occur over the course of the disorder. The person does not feel they have any specific illness that symptoms are a sign of, they are simply concerned with the symptoms themselves. If a medical condition is present, then the symptoms must be excessive enough to warrant a separate diagnosis. Two symptoms can not be counted for the same thing e.g.if pain during intercourse is counted as a sexual symptom it can not be counted as a pain symptom. Finally, the symptoms cannot be being feigned out of an effort to gain attention or anything else by being sick, and they can not be deliberately inducing symptoms. // Definition Conversion Disorder is a DSM-IV diagnosis which describes neurological symptoms such as weakness, sensory disturbance and attacks that look like epilepsy but which can not be attributed to a known neurological disease. ...

Prevalence

Somatization disorder is about two times more common among women than men. There is usually co-morbidity with other psychological disorders particularly mood or anxiety disorders. According to the DSM-IV, the disorder has a lifetime prevalence of 0.2% in males and 0.2% to 2% in females. This condition is chronic and has a poor prognosis

Treatment

No one treatment has been found to cure somatization disorder. However setting up a physician that screens complaints from patients before they are allowed to see a specialist significantly cuts down on cost of the disorder. Antidepressants and cognitive behavioral therapy have been shown to help treat the disorder. An antidepressant, in the most common usage, is a medication used to alleviate clinical depression or dysthymia (mild depression), including in the context of bipolar disorder. ... Cognitive therapy or cognitive behavior therapy is a kind of psychotherapy used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, phobias, and other forms of mental disorder. ...

References

1. American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC.
2. Barlow, David H. and V. Mark Durand (2006). Essentials of Abnormal Psychology (4th ed.) Belmont, CA.
3. Bizer, J. (2003). "Somatization disorders in obstetrics and gynecology." Achieves of Women’s Mental Health, 6, 99-107.
4. Hakala, M. (2004). "Volumes of the caudate nuclei in women with somatization disorder and healthy women." Psychiatry Research, 131(1), 71-78.
5. Hakala, M., Karlsson, H., Ruotsalainen, U., Koponen, S., Bergman, J., Stenman, H., et al. (2002). "Severe somatization in women is associated with altered cerebral glucose metabolism." Psychological Medicine, 32(8), 1379-1385.
6. Holder-Perkins, V., & Wise, T.N. (2001). "Somatization Disorder." In J.M. Oldham & M.B. Riba (Series Eds.) & K.A. Phillips (Vol. Ed.), Review of Psychiatry: Vol. 20. Somatization and Factitious Disorder (pp 1-26). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Publishing.
7. Looper, K.J., & Kirmayer, L.J. (2002). "Behavioral medicine approaches to somatoform disorders." Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 70(3), 810-827.
8. Martini, D.R. (Spring 1997). Somatoform disorders in the pediatric population. Journal of Children’s Memorial Hospital. Retrieved December 7, 2004 from http://www.childsdoc.org/spring97/martini/somatoformdis.asp
9. Niemi, P.M., Portin, R., Aalto, S., Hakala, M., & Karlsson, H. (2002). Cognitive functioning in severe somatization—a pilot study. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 106, 461-463.
10. Stahl, S.M. (2003). Antidepressants and somatic symptoms: Therapeutic actions are expanding beyond affective spectrum disorders to functional somatic syndromes. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 64(7), 745-746.
11. Temple, S. (2003). A case of multiple chemical sensitivities: Cognitive therapy for somatization disorder and Metaworry. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 17(3), 267-277.

See also

• Culture-bound syndrome
• Psychosomatic illness

A culture-bound syndrome or culture-specific syndrome is a psychological condition that is confined to certain cultures or cultural groups. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

External links

• MedlinePlus Encyclopedia 000955
• eMedicine ped/3015