- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- 5.1 Mind–body dualism, psychiatry, and medicine
- 5.2 Somatoform disorders and other causes of medically unexplained symptoms
- 5.2.1 Somatoform disorders and functional symptoms
- 5.2.2 Epidemiology of somatoform disorders and other causes of unexplained medical symptoms
- 5.2.3 Somatization disorder and related disorders
- 5.2.4 Conversion and dissociation disorders
- 5.2.5 Hypochondriasis (health anxiety)
- 5.2.6. Pain disorder
- 5.2.7 Chronic fatigue syndrome
- 5.2.8 Body dysmorphic disorder
- 5.2.9 Factitious disorder and malingering
- 5.2.10 Neurasthenia
- 5.3 Medical and surgical conditions and treatments associated with psychiatric disorders
- 5.4 Obstetric and gynaecological conditions associated with psychiatric disorder
- 5.5 Management of psychiatric disorders in medically ill patients, including emergencies
- 5.6 Health psychology
- 5.7 The organization of psychiatric services for general hospital departments
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Somatoform disorders and functional symptoms
- Chapter:
- Somatoform disorders and functional symptoms
- Author(s):
Richard Mayou
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0127
Non-specific symptoms that are not explained by organic pathology are extremely frequent in the general population and in all medical settings. Most are transient, but a substantial minority is persistent, disabling, and often associated with frequent consultation. They are likely, especially when there are multiple unexplained sym-ptoms, to be associated with psychiatric disorder (see Chapter 5.2.3). They are widely regarded as difficult to treat but only a very small proportion is seen by psychiatrists and psychologists. This chapter covers general issues relating to functional symptoms and syndromes and their psychiatric associations. The following chapters provide more detail about the more specific forms of somatoform disorder and about functional syndromes (pain, chronic fatigue).
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- Section 1 The Subject Matter of and Approach to Psychiatry
- 1.3 Psychiatry as a worldwide public health problem
- 1.4 The history of psychiatry as a medical specialty
- 1.5 Ethics and values
- 1.6 The psychiatrist as a manager
- 1.7 Descriptive phenomenology
- 1.8 Assessment
- 1.9 Diagnosis and classification
- 1.10 From science to practice
- Section 2 The Scientific Basis of Psychiatric Aetiology
- 2.3 The contribution of neurosciences
- 2.4 The contribution of genetics
- 2.5 The contribution of psychological science
- 2.6 The contribution of social sciences
- 2.7 The contribution of epidemiology to psychiatric aetiology
- Section 3 Psychodynamic Contributions to Psychiatry
- Section 4 Clinical Syndromes of Adult Psychiatry
- 4.4 Persistent delusional symptoms and disorders
- 4.5 Mood disorders
- 4.6 Stress-related and adjustment disorders
- 4.7 Anxiety disorders
- Section 5 Psychiatry and Medicine
- 5.1 Mind–body dualism, psychiatry, and medicine
- 5.2 Somatoform disorders and other causes of medically unexplained symptoms
- 5.2.1 Somatoform disorders and functional symptoms
- 5.2.2 Epidemiology of somatoform disorders and other causes of unexplained medical symptoms
- 5.2.3 Somatization disorder and related disorders
- 5.2.4 Conversion and dissociation disorders
- 5.2.5 Hypochondriasis (health anxiety)
- 5.2.6. Pain disorder
- 5.2.7 Chronic fatigue syndrome
- 5.2.8 Body dysmorphic disorder
- 5.2.9 Factitious disorder and malingering
- 5.2.10 Neurasthenia
- 5.3 Medical and surgical conditions and treatments associated with psychiatric disorders
- 5.4 Obstetric and gynaecological conditions associated with psychiatric disorder
- 5.5 Management of psychiatric disorders in medically ill patients, including emergencies
- 5.6 Health psychology
- 5.7 The organization of psychiatric services for general hospital departments
- Section 6 Treatment Methods in Psychiatry
- 6.2 Somatic treatments
- Section 7 Social Psychiatry and Service Provision
- Section 8 The Psychiatry of Old Age
- Section 9 Child and Adolescent Psychiatry