Somatic symptom and related disorders

Somatic symptom disorder

The experience of one or more debilitating somatic symptoms accompanied by abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Conversion disorder

A disturbance in motor or sensory functioning that is not consistent with any recognized medical condition, causing significant distress and/or impairment.

Mass hysteria

An epidemic of conversion disorder where one person's symptoms and beliefs about their cause generalize to others.

Illness anxiety disorder

Preoccupation with having or getting a serious illness, characterized by high levels of health anxiety and excessive health-related behaviors.

Cognitive behavioural model

A treatment approach used for somatic symptom and related disorders.

Factitious disorder

The fabrication of psychological or medical symptoms without any obvious external reward, known as 'Munchausen’s syndrome.'

Factitious disorder imposed on another

Inducing illness in another person, also known as 'Munchausen’s by proxy.'

Dissociative disorders

A category of disorders including depersonalisation/derealisation disorder, dissociative amnesia, and dissociative identity disorder, causing significant distress or impairment.

Depersonalisation disorder

A persistent feeling of being detached from oneself.

Derealisation disorder

Experiencing one’s surroundings as being unreal.

Dissociative amnesia

Loss of memory for significant personal information, which may occur with a fugue state involving travel and inability to recall the past.

Dissociative identity disorder (DID)

The presence of two or more distinct identity or personality states that take control of a person's behavior.

Iatrogenesis

The creation of an illness through the intervention of medical or health professionals, sometimes suggested as a cause of DID.

Aetiology of dissociative disorders

Most are believed to be stress/trauma related, with common precipitants including extreme stress, depression, anxiety, and substance abuse.

Treatment for depersonalisation/derealisation disorder

Partial support for medication and cognitive behavior therapy.

Treatment for dissociative amnesia

Most cases spontaneously remit without intervention.

Treatment for dissociative identity disorder

Support for teaching coping skills, exposure-based techniques, and integrating different identities.