User:Mr. Ibrahem/Somatic symptom disorder

Somatic symptom disorder, formerly known as a somatoform disorder, is characterized by excessive concern or anxiety regarding physical symptoms. This occurs to a degree that normal functioning is disrupted. The symptoms may or may not occur as a result of an underlying medical problem. It may be associated with avoidant personality disorder or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The cause is unclear. Risk factors include family history, substance misuse, unemployment, and history of child abuse. Diagnosis requires the problem to be present for at least six months. Related disorder include conversion disorder, factitious disorder, and illness anxiety disorder. It differs from malingering, in which symptoms are produced for secondary gain.

Treatment may include counselling, such as cognitive behavior therapy, and medications, such as SSRIs. Frequent efforts to reinforce that symptoms do not represents a life threating condition may help. It is recommended that excessive testing be avoided due to concerns of false positives and the fact that negative results do not provide meaningful reassurance. Up to 90% of cases last more than 5 years.

Somatic symptom disorder is estimated to affect 6% of the population. Females are affected about 10 times more often than males. Onset is often during the later part of childhood, though diagnosis may not occur until later. The condition was described by the Ancient Egyptians and later occurred in the 1900s as hysteria. Its current name was introduced in 2013 in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-V).