The major difference between somatoform disorders and factitious disorders is what?

Somatic symptom disorder (SSD formerly known as "somatization disorder" or "somatoform disorder") is a form of mental illness that causes one or more bodily symptoms, including pain. The symptoms may or may not be traceable to a physical cause including general medical conditions, other mental illnesses, or substance abuse. But regardless, they cause excessive and disproportionate levels of distress. The symptoms can involve one or more different organs and body systems, such as:

  • Pain
  • Neurologic problems
  • Gastrointestinal complaints
  • Sexual symptoms

Many people who have SSD will also have an anxiety disorder.

People with SSD are not faking their symptoms. The distress they experience from pain and other problems they experience are real, regardless of whether or not a physical explanation can be found. And the distress from symptoms significantly affects daily functioning.

Doctors need to perform many tests to rule out other possible causes before diagnosing SSD.

The diagnosis of SSD can create a lot of stress and frustration for patients. They may feel unsatisfied if there's no better physical explanation for their symptoms or if they are told their level of distress about a physical illness is excessive. Stress often leads patients to become more worried about their health, and this creates a vicious cycle that can persist for years.

Several conditions related to SSD are now described in psychiatry. These include:

  • Illness Anxiety Disorder (formerly called Hypochondriasis). People with this type are preoccupied with a concern they have a serious disease. They may believe that minor complaints are signs of very serious medical problems. For example, they may believe that a common headache is a sign of a brain tumor.
  • Conversion disorder (also called Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder). This condition is diagnosed when people have neurological symptoms that can't be traced back to a medical cause. For example, patients may have symptoms such as:
    • Weakness or paralysis
    • Abnormal movements (such as tremor, unsteady gait, or seizures)
    • Blindness
    • Hearing loss
    • Loss of sensation or numbness
    • Seizures (called nonepileptic seizures and pseudoseizures) 

Stress usually makes symptoms of conversion disorder worse.

  • Other Specific Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders. This category describes situations in which somatic symptoms occur for less than six months or may involve a specific condition called pseudocyesis, which is a false belief women have that they are pregnant along with other outward signs of pregnancy, including an expanding abdomen; feeling labor pains, nausea, fetal movement; breast changes; and cessation of the menstrual period.

Treatment of Somatic Symptom Disorders

Patients who experience SSD may cling to the belief that their symptoms have an underlying physical cause despite a lack of evidence for a physical explanation. Or if there is a medical condition causing their symptoms, they may not recognize that the amount of distress they are experiencing or displaying is excessive. Patients may also dismiss any suggestion that psychiatric factors are playing a role in their symptoms.

A strong doctor-patient relationship is key to getting help with SSD. Seeing a single health care provider with experience managing SSD can help cut down on unnecessary tests and treatments.

The focus of treatment is on improving daily functioning, not on managing symptoms. Stress reduction is often an important part of getting better. Counseling for family and friends may also be useful.

Cognitive behavioral therapy may help relieve symptoms associated with SSD. The therapy focuses on correcting:

  • Distorted thoughts
  • Unrealistic beliefs
  • Behaviors that feed the anxiety

1) When an individual is suffering from body dysmorphic disorder the symptoms include:

2) Somatoform disorders include which of the following:

3) Individuals with somatoform disorders may often display a surprising indifference about their symptoms- especially when the symptoms to most people would be disturbing (e.g. blindness, paralysis). This is sometimes known as

4) In order to assume the sick role, Intentionally produced Physical or psychological symptoms are known as?

5) An extreme form of factitious disorder is known as

6) Sometimes parents or carers make up or induce physical illnesses in others (such as their children) and this is known as

7) Which of the following is a basic feature of Conversion Disorder?

8) A Symptom of Conversion Disorder, where numbness begins at the wrist and is experienced evenly across the hand and all fingers, is known as

9) Before conversion disorder was included in the DSM, it popularly known in psychodynamic circles as what?

10) Even though a thorough medical examination fails to identify any underlying medical condition, an individual with Hypochondriasis will have a preoccupation with fears of having or contracting a serious disease or illness based on a misinterpretation of bodily signs or symptoms. This preoccupation can be with which of the following?

11) In Pain Disorder, which of the following are considered as central features?

12) The essential psychodynamic view of somatoform disorders is one of

13) There are many similarities between the behaviour of the individual with conversion disorder or somatization disorder and the effects of which of the following?

14) Sometimes parents view all underlying problems (including psychological ones) as being physical rather than emotional. Consequently many individuals may learn to describe emotional symptoms in physical terms and in extreme cases begin to adopt which of the following?

15) In somatoform disorders the sufferer sometimes believes they have physical deficits or symptoms that are significant and threatening. However, in most cases there is little or no medical justification for these beliefs. Such cognitive biases are termed:

16) Individuals with hypochondriasis are inclined to actively seek out and accept information which confirms their own view of their medical state, but they ignore or reject arguments against their own beliefs. This is known as :

17) Sufferers of pain disorder usually fear pain itself rather than the illness, injury or disease that might give rise to pain, and so when experiencing pain they have a tendency to catastrophise it. This results in which of the following?

18) Information biases acquired by those with somatoform disorders are developed by a range of experiences, and these representations provide inappropriate templates by which information is selected and interpreted. These are known as:

19) Which form of treatment for somatoform disorders has been found to be significantly more effective than no treatment control conditions:

20) Sometimes Behavioural methods can be used to prevent and extinguish undesirable behaviours associated with somatoform disorders. These include which of the following?

21) For pain disorder, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for pain would normally include which of the following?

22) Individuals with body dysmorphic disorder often exhibit rapid improvement in symptoms when treated with which types of drugs?

23) Cognitive and information processing biases are common features of somatoform disorders. Which of the following are considered to be these types of biases?

24) Which of the following procedures involves injecting radioactive molecules into the bloodstream:

25) According to a study, the observed mothers playing with medically related toys with their 4-8 year-old children. who exhibited somatization symptoms were:

26) Which of the following is not a disadvantage of adopting a sick role ?

27) Which of the following is not a common motor symptom in Conversion Disorder?

28) According to research by Rief, Buhlmann, Wilhelm, Borkenhagen et al. (2006).what percentage of individuals with body dysmorphic disorder reported suicidal ideation?

29) The prevalence rate for hypochondriasis in the general population is estimated to be

30) Body dysmorphic disorder can also occur in those who are preoccupied with their musculature, and it is often associated with excessive weight training and the use of body-building anabolic steroids (Olivardia, Pope & Hudson, 2000). Such an obsession is known as

What is the key difference between somatoform and dissociative disorders?

In patients with somatoform disorders, the stress may be in the form of adverse life events, and disturbed interpersonal and family dynamics. In patients with dissociative disorders traumatic experiences, mainly sexual abuse, may be the stressors.

What is the difference between somatoform and hypochondriasis?

Hypochondriasis is described as an anxious, internalizing disturbance whereas somatization disorder is a dramatic, externalizing disorder. As we have seen, there is evidence from clinical observation and case series of differences in sex ratio and clinical manifestations, especially illness behavior.

What is the difference between somatoform and conversion disorders?

Conversion disorder is a type of somatoform disorder where physical symptoms or signs are present that cannot be explained by a medical condition. Very importantly, unlike factitious disorders and malingering, the symptoms of somatoform disorders are not intentional or under conscious control of the patient.

What is the difference between malingering and factitious disorder quizlet?

Whereas factitious disorder is a mental health condition with no clear cause, malingerers do it for personal gain.