Test 3: Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders & Dissociative Disorders Flashcards
What are somatic symptom disorders?
Excessive or maladaptive response to physical symptoms or health concerns
- Preoccupation with health or symptoms
- Physical complaints
- Usually no identifiable medical condition
What disorder is characterized by
- Presence of one or more somatic symptoms: symptom is often medically unexplained
- Excessive thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to the symptoms (excessive thoughts about seriousness of the symptom, frequent complaints and requests for help, health related anxiety, excessive research)
- Substantial impairment in social or occupational functioning
Somatic symptom disorder
What are the statistics of somatic symptom disorder?
- relatively rare
- onset: usually adolescence
- more likely: unmarried, low socioeconomic status, women
- chronic
What disorder is characterized by
- severe anxiety about the possibility of having or acquiring a serious disease
- actual symptoms are either very mild or absent
- strong disease conviction
- medical reassurance does not seem to help
Illness anxiety disorder
What are the statistics of illness anxiety disorder?
- Effect: All ages equally
- Comorbid: anxiety and mood disorders
What causes somatic symptom disorders?
- Consistent overreaction to physical signs and sensations
- Cause is unlikely to be found in isolated biological or psychological factors
- Genetic component is present
- May have learned from family to focus anxiety on physical sensations
- Stressful life events
- Illness in family during childhood
- Benefits of illness (sympathy, attention)
What are the shared features of somatic symptom disorder and antisocial personality disorder?
- Often begin early in life
- Chronic and difficult to treat
- More common in lower socioeconomic status
- Linked to substance abuse and interpersonal problems
- Disinhibition/impulsivity: seeking sympathy & other benefits
What are different features of somatic symptom disorders and antisocial personality disorder?
SSD:
- Dependence manifestation of impulsivity
- More common in females
ASPD:
- Aggression manifestation of impulsivity
- More common in males
What are treatments for somatic symptom disorders?
- mild: detailed education and medical professional reassurance
- CBT (effective)
- Antidepressants (maybe helpful)
- Gatekeeper physician to limit excessive use of medical services
- Reduce supportive consequences of illness
Illness Anxiety Disorder vs. Somatic Symptom Disorder
***
IAD:
- Fear of disease
- Scientific in reporting data
- Limited complaints - often a fear of one disease
SSD:
- Fear of symptoms
- Describes symptoms vaguely
- Varied complaints - often fear of many symptoms
What disorder is characterized by
- psychological variable may be impacting a general medical issues
Examples:
- PT concentration affect taking medication
- PT in denial about diagnosis does not comply with medical advice
Psychological Factors Affecting Medical Condition
What disorder is characterized by
- Altered motor or sensory function inconsistent with neural/medical conditions and not better explained by another disorder
- ie lump in throat
- Suggestive of neurological problem but not detected
- Cause significant distress/impairment
- May display indifferent attitude toward symptoms (“la belle indifference”)
- Functioning may be mostly normal
- NOT deliberately faking
Conversion Disorder (Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder)
What is the deliberate faking of a condition?
Malingering
What are the statistics for conversion disorder?
- Prevalence: Rare
- Course: chronic, intermittent
- Comorbid: Anxiety and mood disorders
- Onset: usually adolescence
- Primarily in females
- Common in some cultural and/or religious groups
What causes conversion disorder?
- Not well understood
- Freudian psychodynamic view (common, unsubstantiated): past trauma/unconscious conflict “converted” into more acceptable manifestation (physical symptoms)
- Primary gain: escape from conflict
- Secondary gain: attention, sympathy, etc
- Sociocultural factors: lower education/socioeconomic status, symptoms more familiar with
What is the treatment for conversion disorder?
- Trauma: process and treat symptoms
- remove sources of secondary gain
- reduce supportive consequences of talk about physical symptoms
What disorder is characterized by
- purposely faking physical symptoms
- Induce physical symptoms or just pretend
- No obvious external gains (benefit of sick role)
Factitious disorder
- NOT: malingering - faking to get concrete objective
What disorder is characterized by
- inducing symptoms in another person
- to receive attention or sympathy
Factitious Disorder imposed on another (Munchausen syndrome by proxy)
- typically a caregiver induces symptoms in a dependent (child)
How would you address a Christian with illness anxiety disorder or somatic symptom disorder?
Verses:
1 Peter 5: 7 - cast all your cares
Proverbs 3:5-6 - God is in control, trust Him not yourself
Isaiah 40:31 - Memorize and meditate on verses, run wing eagles
Philippians 4:8-9 - Set your mind on good things
- Writing down examples of God’s faithfulness
- Remember prayers and answers
- Practice thankfulness
- Verse meditation and memorization
What are dissociative disorders in general? What are the two types?
- Severe alterations or detachments from reality
- Affect identity, memory, or consciousness
1) Depersonalization: distortion in perception of one’s body or experience
2) Derealization: losing a sense of the external world