Somatic symptom disorder – causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, pathology
Somatic symptom disorder, which used to be
called somatization or somatoform disorder, involves having physical symptoms that aren’t
explained by any known physical or mental disorder – in other words, symptoms that can’t
be explained. That said, individuals aren’t ‘faking’
the symptoms, these symptoms are real and often made worse by the fact that they cannot
be scientifically explained. And this is pretty different from situations
where an individual with a factitious disorder might fake an illness or injury in order to
get attention. The diagnosis requires that individuals experience
some set of unexplained physical, or somatic, symptoms for at least 6 months. The symptoms experienced by individuals with
this disorder, though, can be incredibly varied, everything from pain to gastrointestinal problems
to sexual symptoms. And although the somatic symptoms are chronic,
the exact location, kind, and severity of the symptoms typically changes over time. The one symptom that does often persist over
time is pain, and because it’s persistent and has no clear underlying cause, it can
be particularly hard to treat. Somatic symptom disorder often causes cognitive
symptoms as well, and these include persistent thoughts and feelings about their symptoms—usually
a lot of worry and anxiety, and sometimes even catastrophic thoughts about death. More often than not, it is these cognitive
symptoms in response to the physical symptoms, more than the physical symptoms themselves,
that become a basis for this diagnosis. In fact, clinicians rate the severity of somatic
symptom disorder based on patient experience with these cognitive symptoms, not the physical
ones. The condition is considered mild if there’s
only one cognitive symptom like ruminating a lot on the symptoms. It would be considered moderate if there are
two or more cognitive symptoms like rumination as well as anxiety. And it would be considered severe if there
are two or more cognitive symptoms, as well as multiple physical symptoms or one severe
symptom, like severe pain. These cognitive and physical symptoms often
disrupt an individual’s daily life as well as their relationships. Unfortunately, the diagnosis can be tricky
and confusing given that the symptoms shift over time and that there is no clear underlying
scientific explanation. Historically, it was thought that somatic
symptom disorder was the result of a person having too much psychological stress, and
that “excess stress” bubbled over and led to bodily symptoms. A current theory is that individuals with
this disorder are extremely sensitive to changes in their bodies and that common experiences
like indigestion might be amplified in these individuals. One everyday example of this would be how
different individuals might perceive the same amount of spiciness very differently, for
some it’s tasty and for other people the exact same amount of spice is perceived as
pain. Now, treatment of somatic symptom disorder
is aimed at diminishing the cognitive symptoms, and this is often done through cognitive-behavioral
therapy. The goal here is to encourage individuals
to engage in behaviors that they think are limited because of their physical symptoms,
in order to show them what they are able to do. All right, as a quick recap: somatic symptom
disorder involves physical symptoms that cannot be scientifically explained by any known physical
or mental disorder, and the most common one is pain, and these physical symptoms often
lead to cognitive symptoms like rumination and anxiety Hey guys, just wanted to give a big special thanks and shoutout to Nurse Nacole for helping with this video, if you haven’t yet definitely check out her Channel otherwise as always subscribe to our channel you can help also sports on patreon and tell your friends about some social media guys like
What is somatic symptom disorder? Somatic symptom disorder, sometimes called somatoform disorder, is defined as having unexplainable physical symptoms, which often lead to cognitive symptoms. Find our full video library only on Osmosis: http://osms.it/more.
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48 Comments
Is somatic dymptom disorder anxiety
Mine manifests itself in horrible horrible nausea and vomiting. I really really hope it gets better soon, its been over 2 years but is at least improving
Can some one explain to me at 0:52 how gastrointestinal problems is somatic pain I thought the digestive system was internal and this would make it into a visceral kind of pain right, so how is it that the gastrointestinal problems is a somatic type of pain if somatic is more about the muscles, skin, joints and mucosa.
Who is joy
You have to tell yourself that you DO NOT have a mental disorder.
I perceive hot food as pain and I love it! Lol. It’s all a matter of how you perceive things. You can change that.
I think I have this. The symptoms keep changing. I want to fucking get a cure for this shit.
I had to look into this because when I was a lot younger I would curl up in pain somewhere above my stomach but below my chest, and it would hurt for 5 minutes. After i'd be happy as a bee. I had this happen multiple times over a couple years but there was absolutely nothing wrong with me lol
What about shortness of breath?
I have tingling in hand face and abdomen. Can’t live. I can’t sit. It’s mostly when sitting.
you are doing great job in educating people. Good content .
Omg I'm so confuse I was just told by my doctor today that I have this disorder, I got hurt at work, I was told that the hit to my neck trigger it making my pain worse, since I was diagnosed in the pass with anxiety, depression ect. I'm 57 sorry I just need to learn more so I can understand why I'm always in so much pain everyday and night
So is this central sentization it's very confusing and myofacial pain syndrome
I'm 16 and have had this pretty much my whole life… I only found out what it was last year all they told me it was my anxiety until I went to a children's hospital and a team if doctors finally figured it out.
Dad was aggresive is unpredictally very bad man
Thanks
Does it's the same as Munchausen syndrome… In that also there is no clinical evidence of those symptoms… Anyone up there.. Clarify me.. Thanks I'm advance 😎
When i was five i woke up one random morning and couldn’t walk. I spent weeks in the hospital getting all sorts of tests done every single day, to absolutely no conclusion. I then did physiotherapy for months and eventually could walk absolutely fine. The doctors along with my parents kind of assumed it must have been some sort of physical manifestation. Now since the last six years (i’m 19 now) i get physical illnesses usually to do with indigestion or respiratory ailments that occur right before i have something stressful happening or something nerve recking like a performance. I do music and theatre so i perform many times a year. Because of this i’ve never performed completely healthy and usually have a croaky/lost voice when i have to sing. I’ve always assumed it’s my immune system shutting down due to stress so i’m more susceptible to catching cold and such. Although now after really thinking about it and putting all the pieces together im starting to think it might be deeper than that. It happens multiple times a year so it just doesn’t feel like a coincidence anymore. Is it possible this could be psychosomatic disorder? Should i visit a doctor/therapist about this? Or is it just stress/anxiety or a coincidence?
My father in law committed suicide due to this disorder. My husband had it too and it destroyed his life and our marriage. My sons are starting to show signs and I’m very worried.
When I was diagnosed I cried a lot because I knew it's nothing physical, it was really hard to handle the panic that came from the diagnosis
Im experiencing this for 6 years now. Chronic headache and fatigue and still not resolved.
is it possible for one to have this disorder but with no pain present and no shift in symptoms?
I have this phenomenon crop up sometimes, my symptoms are always severe fatigue, muscle weakness, muscle cramps and exhaustion. I recognize when it's happening and I am recently going through a bout of this, usually spurred on by a very stressful trigger. I recently did work for a customer and it went very south and I was wracked with overwhelming fear and worry, few days later and now I am feeling the effects physically, it usually passes after a few days or so but when it happens it's terrifying, I almost feel immobilized by the weakness, fearing its some sort of horrible illness or infection, thousands of thoughts go through my head and then it clicks, I realize I am having another psychosomatic episode, I struggle with anxiety and depression in general and this is just how it manifests sometimes when my mind can't take the stress anymore. I have had this chronically in the past before and even went to the hospital for it and that's when they determined it was pyschosomatic, its scary to think your own mind can make you think you are very ill
On 2019 I had Nausea and chest pressure that did not let me eat nothing. I would only eat When it went away. Mom took me to doctor and they diagnosed me with Gastritis or GERD. They gave me omeprazole and did not cure me. A week later when I got nauseous I would excessively yawn. It was until September when nausea and fatigue went away. I still got it but less. All these happened because of anxiety. I got treated with hypnosis therapy in 2022 and I don’t get those symptoms no more.
Wimin ☕
I have a chest pains that have been troubling me for almost 3 years, in an out of hospital being giving some meds, however situation changed when I started having breathlessness, it almost felt like I was about to suffocate or like my lungs couldn'ttake in enoughair, and weird that my lungs and nose wasn't blocked. I experienced this episodes every evening from 8pm untill I fell asleep.
I went for several tests and doctors couldn't find anything, was referred to a psychologist who while not diagnosing me with this disorder, she explained it to me and felt like she wanted me to know of its existence and that it could be my problem. She went ahead to insist that my case though was probably Gastrointestinal disorder caused by my eating habits/lack of physical activity, she insisted I go back home and make sure I have 4 light meals a day, make sure I eat freshly made food(avoid frozen) and completely avoid certain foods, my case was legumes and artificial spices.
I followed her advice blindly and my god! The symptoms disappeared within 2 days.
The chest pain though persisted to date, but after the acknowledgement that this disorder exists I tried to stop worrying about it and it has enabled me engage in activities such as going to the Gym.
I haven't been formally diagnosed with SSD, I mean no doctor straight away said it is it. But I am gravitating towards accepting it if ever they will.
I am slowly but constantly trying to not avoid it but trying to avoid triggers, in my case lack of inactivity, too much work stress(I am a programmer), and being outdoor when I can. I hope this helps someone whose situation is similar to mine, I understand the same disorder behaves very differently
What if your eye pupils are different sizes
Think about 100 years ago and the types of problems that could not be diagnosed or were simply not known? There are millions of people walking around in real pain, but our scientific knowledge is so primitive that we do not understand what the real cause is.
Describes most symptoms of fibromyalgia and Hashimoto's Disease. Took me 12 years to get diagnosed with both those conditions and a lot of medical gaslighting.
Hmm I read a lot of comments here and no one comes to the severity of the pain Im in. I was just diagnosed today from my GI doctor after having sever right side abdominal pain, upper back pain and weird bowel movements because of spasms and severe pains almost daily. It was a buildup of long term stress that brought this disease on, I will snap out of this someday but I know I need the right people and environment. My pains exceed 10/30! Im in severe pains at the hospital twice a week average, pains make me cry non stop, it got so bad at least a dozen times that I wished that I would just die. Painkillers work like 40% for the pain but never entirely help.
1st time to see the face behind those voices thanks man
Superb video very knowledgeable Thanxx a lots
This video TOTALLY "MISSED THE MARK"! The ROOT of ALL 'mental disorders' is from a DEEP INTENSE HEARTACHE!!! When a BIGGER PERSON does something 100% inappropriate to a SMALLER PERSON physically, verbally or sexually, resulting in a 'split from the heart up into the head.' Being in NATURE is THE BEST CURE … not more mind anal-y-sis. Focusing on HEALTHY WISE SELF-LOVE AGAIN! More Heart Compassion.
For more than year I feel constant cramping in my heart, even though my blood pressure and arteries are all normal
I had all the medical tests and they were all fine
I wish I could live alone away from evil humanity.
I think I have this
I am facing since some years, I always research on different thing that can relief me. I found magicashroom as it is illegal so magic truffles are somewhere legal and whenever I try it I feel so good and having no pain on my msucles give me some amazing feelings and I just enjoy the time.
I was diagnosed with this in june 2021
I got diagnosed with this BS. And I hate it as I really like answers and here i got none .. 🙁
Thank you 🙏
I've had somatization disorder now for 15 years being diagnosed only 9 years ago. After hundreds of doctors appointments and multiple tests like m.r.i.s, ct scans, ultrasounds over that 15 year span, nothing has been found from these symptoms that I go through. I've tried meds, cognitive behavior therapy, acupuncture and almost everything in the book these past 6 years yet I still suffer from this debilitating disease. I applied for social security disability and got it right away as have just been crippled by this disease. Scary thing is that you don't know what's real and what's not. I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer last year even though I felt no symptoms for that one particular thing. It was found as I had an m.r.i. for swelling under my jaw. My shrink said to stay away from doctors while my doctor said if i'm dealing with real symptoms, i must follow up with a doctor. I feel real painful and destressing symptoms….what do I do? Tried TMS with no long term relief. Any advice would be appreciated?
Sir i am diagnosed with this disorder and what you said is 100% accurate, i have severe abdominal pain , low confidence and memory. Though a neurologist helped me ,he Suggested CBT. I don't think it will help. Additionally i was diagnosed with GAD(generalised anxiety disorder) which has cured by taking Ssri medicines , still my pain persist. Its bringing problem in my academics to the point i can't study properly. I also have some hallucinations ,which aren't diagnosed yet. I am in difficult situation right now. I need help
I am 9 and at school I felt pain in my intestines and then the pain stopped, followed by my body acting like it is in SEVERE pain (breahing heavily….. cureled up into ball at one point…) And as I was sitting in the nurses office after that. I was wondering "am I gonna die?…. is this bad…."
Do I have somatic symptom disorder (i had never experinced it before too)?
I had a L5 s1 herniation that by the grace of God got a disc disectomy. although sciatica cleared up, I still had pelvis pain. Urologist kept saying it was my prostate. After many urologists, I had prostate removed. Pain continued I thought it would be wise to rule out STD, but every test negative. I now find out it is pudendal nerve pain. If your in cycle of pelvis pain, get this checked out. Especially if back injury was prior to pelvis pain
Oh my word. I am a Healer. I am amazed how little western medicine understands about this. Hello.
I have been suffering from servere nausea and vomiting 🤮 for 1 year I have done all test and they all come negative the doctor told me to saw a psychiatrist but they are all so unprofessional
Can a patient have both somatic symptom disorder and OCPD ?
Half the people with this disorder are actually seriously ill, but the doctors they see are incompetent and cant figure out whats wrong with them until its too late.
Tysm love from India ❤ 🇮🇳