- 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
(p. 996) Epidemiology of somatoform disorders and other causes of unexplained medical symptoms
- Chapter:
- (p. 996) Epidemiology of somatoform disorders and other causes of unexplained medical symptoms
- Author(s):
Gregory Simon
- DOI:
- 10.1093/med/9780199696758.003.0128
While nearly every psychiatric syndrome may include some somatic signs or symptoms, a specific group of syndromes has been traditionally defined as somatoform. This group of disorders is distinguished by certain key features: prominent reporting of somaticymptoms, concern about medical illness, and frequent presentation to general medical providers. As in other categories of mental disorder, the boundaries between individual syndromes are more distinct in our systems of classification than they are in nature. Understanding that various somatoform disorders often overlap, this review is organized according to the major categories of somatoform disorder described in the ICD and DSM classification systems.
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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