Somatoform and Dissociative Disorders

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Chapter 8

• Somatoform and Dissociative Disorders

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Somatoform Disorders

• A group of disorders where individuals experience
  significant physical symptoms for which there is
  no apparent organic cause.
• Physical symptoms are actually experienced.
• Difficult to diagnose
• The individual may actually have some kind of
  physical illness that explains the symptoms
  however, this actual illness or problem may be
  difficult to diagnosis.
• Diagnosis can be helped by looking at the context
  in which the physical symptoms arise

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Somatoform Disorders

• Must be distinguished from
• Psychosomatic Disorders
• Actual physical illness present and psychological
  factors contribute to the illness
• Malingering
• Deliberate faking of illness to avoid an unwanted
  situation or for some kind of gain
• Factitious Disorders
• Faking of illness to gain medical attention

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Somatoform Disorders

• Conversion Disorder
• Loss of functioning in a part of the body for
  psychological reasons (e.g., blindness)
• Somatization/Pain Disorder
• History of complaints about physical symptoms,
  affecting many different areas of the body, for
  which medical attention has been sought but that
  appear to have no physical cause
• Hypochondriasis
• Chronic worry that one has a physical disease in
  the absence of evidence that one does frequent
  seeking of medical attention
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder
• Excessive preoccupation with a part of the body
  the person believes is defective.
• Adonis Complex

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Dissociative Disorders

• Dissociation Fragmentation of ones conscious
  experience, loss of awareness of oneself, loss of
  time and memory for events.
• Dissociative Identity Disorder
• Multiple Personality Disorder
• Often associated with history of severe childhood
  abuse a form of psychological escape
• Depersonalization Disorder
• Individuals experience episodes where they are
  detached from their mind or body
• Dissociative Fugue
• Person moves away and assumes a new identity with
  amnesia for the previous identity
• Dissociative Amnesia
• Person loses memory for important personal facts
  with no apparent organic cause