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Somatic Symptom disorders

Definition

These are a group of psychological disorders in which a person has physical symptoms that cannot be explained by actual physical illness. The individual may experience pain, weakness, or shortness of breath that doctors can't trace back to a physical cause.

Related terms

Conversion Disorder: This is when psychological stress manifests as physical symptoms without any underlying medical cause.

Illness Anxiety Disorder: This is characterized by excessive worry about having a serious illness despite having no or only mild symptoms.

Factitious Disorder: This involves pretending to be ill or deliberately producing symptoms of illness in oneself.

"Somatic Symptom disorders" appears in:

Additional resources (1)

AP Psychology - Unit 8 Overview: Clinical Psychology

Practice Questions (5)

Why might someone with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) also exhibit symptoms of somatic symptom disorders?
Which best describes the relationship between chronic stress and the development of somatic symptom disorders?
How does conversion disorder primarily differ from other somatic symptom disorders?
How might a sociologist's understanding of social constructs influence the diagnosis of somatic symptom disorders?
Which experimental design would best investigate the relationship between somatic symptom disorders and social interactions?

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