Somatoform Disorder Research Paper

Somatoform Disorders
PSY/410

Somatoform Disorders
“Somatoform disorders are characterized by the presence of physical symptoms or concerns that are not due to a medical disorder” (Hansell & Damour, 2008, p. 224). Individuals who suffer from somatoform disorders experience symptoms of physical disease or defect when there is nothing wrong with their bodies medically. Factitious disorders are similar to somatoform disorder in that individual’s fake bodily symptoms to give others the perception that he or she is sick (Hansell & Damour, 2008). Somatoform disorder symptoms date back to 1600 B.C.E where it was known as hysteria. Freud described hysteria as a disorder that involved physical symptoms that were the result of repressed anxiety that provoked the impulses of physical symptoms (Hansell & Damour, 2008). In 1980 the DSM-IV-TR moved away from the term “hysteria” and associated the symptoms as specific somatoform disorders (Hansell & Damour, 2008). According to the DSM-IV-TR, there are five subcategories of somatoform disorders: Psychogenic pain
Another category of somatoform disorder is atypical somatoform disorder, which is a catch-all category because individuals fit the general criteria for somatoform disorder, but do not meet the specific criteria for the
During these times, Pam’s father believed that her mother’s illness were a result of stress. He would demand that the children behave and not cause their mother to become upset. Pam’s father would show his wife love and attention while caring for her, but as soon as she was better he would throw himself back into his work. When Pam’s mother wanted attention, she suddenly would become ill to gain her family’s attention only for things to return to normal when she felt