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Chapter 16 Section 3
Somatoform and Dissociative
Disorders
Somatoform Disorders
Somatoform Disorders, or
Psychosomatic Disorders, have
physical symptoms for which there is
no known physical cause.
– Psycho= mind
– Soma= body
Somatoform Disorders
It was once believed that somatoform disorders
happened only in women, as a result of hysteria.
– Hysteria comes from
the Greek word for
“uterus”, because a woman
was believed to be hysterical
when her uterus was
wandering around her
body!
Somatoform Disorders
Conversion Disorders: one converts
emotional difficulty into the loss of a specific
physiological function.
• i.e., blindness, numbness of limbs, paralysis of legs,
fainting, etc.
– No physical damage.
– Persists (not temporary).
– Believed that patients unconsciously invent
physical symptoms to escape psychological
conflict.
Somatoform Disorders
Hypochondriasis: A healthy person believes
he/she has many different illnesses.
– Usually from repressing
emotions (i.e. rejection),
then they are expressed
symbolically in physical
symptoms.
Somatoform Disorders
Dissociative Disorders
Person experiences changes in memory,
consciousness, or identity.
– Dissociative amnesia (usually from trauma):
inability to recall important personal events.
– Dissociative fugue (also called “traveling
amnesia): suddenly leaves home for an extended
period of time, and is unable to remember the
past, or how one got to the present location.
Dissociative Disorders
Dissociative identity disorder (also called
multiple personality disorder): one person has
two or more distinct identities that take over at
different times.
– May be a result of severe
physical, psychological, or
sexual abuse during
childhood.
The Real Sybil
Shirley Ardell Mason (Jan. 1923-Feb. 1998)
– Commercial artist and psych patient.
– Was a substitute teacher in and student at Columbia
University in the 1950’s.
– Often suffered from blackouts and emotional breakdowns.
– Entered psychotherapy with Dr. Cornelia Wilbur, a Freudian
psychologist. Their sessions are the basis for the book and
movie Sybil.
– Taught art classes and ran an art gallery from her home in
Lexington, Kentucky.
– Died of breast cancer in 1998.
Munchausen’s Syndrome
(a.k.a Hospital Addiction Syndrome)
The patient usually is very sensitive to emotional
pain, and will go to great lengths to avoid feeling it.
Instead, they self-induce or self-define physical
symptoms or illnesses. They are aware that they
are lying/exaggerating. This can often be deadly.
Their ultimate goal is to have the doctor take
extraordinary measures to save their life.
Seems to be a “cry for help” or a way to obtain
nurturing care and attention.
The role of “patient” is familiar and comforting.
Munchausen’s by Proxy
Rather than fake illnesses in themselves, they
will fake illnesses in someone else, mainly
their child.
This can result in severe physical illness and
death.
Munchausen mothers seemingly do this to
gain attention, sympathy, money, and
essentially to escape their own psychological
discomfort.
Munchausen’s by Proxy
Kathleen Bush was found guilty of intentionally
making her daughter, Jennifer, severely sick.
– By the time Jenny was 8 years
old, she had spent 640 days in
the hospital and had 40 needless
surgeries. Her gall bladder, appendix,
and part of her intestine were removed.
The case even attracted the
attention of First Lady Hilary Clinton
in 1999.
Murder of Sandra Cantu:
March 2009
8 year old Sandra Cantu was
murdered by her neighbor and
playmate’s mom Melissa
Huckaby in Tracy, CA