Download Somatoform Disorders

Somatoform
Disorders
A Closer Look at Psychological
Disorders
Somatoform Disorders

These disorders are characterized by
physical symptoms brought about by
psychological distress.
 The
term hysteria was more commonly used
in Freud’s time to refer to unexplainable
fainting, paralysis, or deafness.
Somatoform Disorders: Conversion

Conversion disorder: the conversion
(change) of emotional difficulties into the
loss of a specific physiological function.
 While
the loss of function is real, no actual
physical damage is present.
 Conversion disorders are rare, accounting for only
about 2% of diagnoses.
Somatoform Disorders: Conversion


Conversion disorder
How do conversion disorders differ from regular
disabilities?



They tend to appear when the person is under extreme
stress
The symptoms may be physiologically impossible or
improbable
 Ex: “glove anesthesia,” where lack of feeling stops
abruptly at the wrist, even though nerves extend through
the arm
The person may show remarkably little concern about
what most people would think was a rather serious problem
Glove anesthesia.
• In conversion disorders, the
physical complaints are
sometimes inconsistent with
the known facts of physiology.
• For instance, given the patterns
of nerve distribution in the arm
shown in (a), it is impossible that
a loss of feeling in the hand
exclusively, as shown in (b), has
a physical cause, indicating that
the patient’s problem is
psychological in origin.
Somatoform Disorders: Conversion
(cont.)
…Most psychologists believe that people
suffering from conversion disorders
unconsciously invent physical
symptoms to gain freedom from
unbearable conflict
 Examples:

A woman who lived in terror of blurting out things
she did not want to say lost the power of speech.
 A college student experienced total blindness
every Monday morning, but her vision would begin
to return by Friday evening and was fully restored
in time for weekend social activities

Somatoform Disorders:
Hypochondriasis

Hypochondriasis: a person
who is in good health
becomes preoccupied with
imaginary ailments.
 Sufferers
spend a lot of time
looking for signs and
symptoms of a serious illness
and often misinterpret minor
aches, bruises, etc. as early
signs of a fatal illness.
 They often become “experts”
on their most feared diseases.
Etiology of Somatoform
Disorders

How come these people experience these
disorders? What causes them?
.
.
.
.

Are they faking?
Etiology of Somatoform Disorders

Individuals with somatoform disorders are not simply
faking an illness, which would be termed malingering:

Personality factors – Somatoform disorders often emerge in
people with highly suggestible, histrionic personalities

Cognitive factors – they also emerge in people who focus
excess attention on their physiological processes. Also,
cognitively, hypochondriacs are strongly biased to focus on
threat-confirming information but to ignore reassuring information

Reaction to stress – Severe stressors may become triggers
Etiology of Somatoform Disorders

Individuals with somatoform disorders are not simply
faking an illness, which would be termed malingering:

Learned behaviors – They may be learned avoidance
strategies, reinforced by attention and sympathy

a person learns during childhood experiences that symptoms of
physical illness bring special attention and care

Sociocultural factors – Asian, Latin American, and African
cultures are more likely to experience physical symptoms
(headaches, etc.) in response to psychological or interpersonal
conflicts. In North America, such conflicts are more likely to be
accompanied by anxiety or depression

Genetic factors appear to play only a minor role