Somatic symptom disorders

Question 1

Somatic Disorders

Answer 1

Physical symptoms that cannot be linked to an actual cause associated with significant abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
-Difficult to distinguish from true physical disorders
-More prevalent in societies where emotional feeling is suppressed

Question 2

Features of somatic disorders

Answer 2

• 5-7% prevalence
  -Most common in females, low SES, stressful life event, old age, less insightful
  -Older people

Question 3

Somatic Symptom Disorder

Answer 3

Physical symptoms with no organic cause

Question 4

Conversion Disorder

Answer 4

Loss of voluntary motor or sensory function without organic pathology.
also called functional neurological disorder
-symptoms are neurologically based

Question 5

Illness Anxiety Disorder

Answer 5

Preoccupation with having a serious illness

Question 6

Factitious Disorder

Answer 6

Faking to assume sick role
-Imposed on self
-Imposed on others

Question 7

Features of somatic symptom disorder

Answer 7

-5-7% prevalence
-Most common in females, low SES, those who have recently experienced a stressful life event, those of older age, those who are less insightful of medical knowledge

Question 8

Females and somatic symptom disorder

Answer 8

Females typically have more physical complaints and display more physical symptoms

Question 9

Why is somatic symptom disorder hard to diagnose and treat?

Answer 9

-Can and often does occur with real symptoms
-Appraise symptoms as unduly threatening despite reassurance
-Often ‘doctor shop’
-Have excessive medical consultations and interventions
-Resistant to psychological referral
-Chronic but fluctuates with presence of secondary reward

Question 10

What treatment is most effective for somatic symptom disorder?

Answer 10

CBT
-Provide reassurance
-Reduce stress
-Minimize help-seeking behaviours
-Help individual to gain insight
-Reward healthy behaviours, broaden basis for relating to others.

Question 11

Features of conversion disorder

Answer 11

-Transient conversion symptoms more common; persistent is rare
-Onset anytime, common in children
-2-3x more common in females
-Men under extreme stress
-Low SES
-Cultures where emotional distress is inhibited

Question 12

Best treatments for conversion disorder

Answer 12

-Reduces stress
-Remove original noxious situation and/or secondary reward
-Hypnosis(last resort)

Question 13

What is the difference between somatic symptom disorder and conversion disorder?

Answer 13

People with conversion disorder display less stress around their symptoms, somatic symptom disorder displays more anxiety around symptoms

Question 14

Features of illness anxiety disorder

Answer 14

-Fairly common; 1-5% of the population
-Equal sex ratio
-Usually chronic
-Doctor shopping is common
-Onset mid-adulthood from 20-50

Question 15

Best treatment for illness anxiety disorder

Answer 15

Difficult to treat as the disorder is primarily behavioural
-CBT behavioural approach: exposure to illness cues and prevention of response and reassurance
-Challenge beliefs about illness
-Antidepressants

Question 16

Features of factitious disorder (self)

Answer 16

-More common in males
-Early onset
-May engage in pathological lying
-Extensive knowledge of medical terminology
-May eagerly undergo invasive procedures
-Few visitors in hospital
-Repeated hospitalizations in different locations
-Usually cannot maintain steady job, family ties, and relationships