Somatoform Disorder - Symptoms, Diagnosis, and Treatment

What Are Somatoform Disorders?

Somatic disorders are mental health disorders characterized by an extreme focus on physical symptoms like pain and fatigue, which cause severe emotional distress. People with somatoform disorders are used to overthinking their symptoms, even after overcoming the severe disorders. This is because of the belief that the symptoms have a physical cause.

Health concerns become the focus of their lives, making it difficult for them to lead an everyday happy life.

These disorders include:

• Somatization disorder.

• Hypochondriasis.

• Conversion disorder.

• Body dysmorphic disorder.

• Pain disorder.

What Is Somatization?

Somatization is a condition where mental or emotional factors cause physical symptoms. For example, chest pain, headache, dizziness, back pain, or feeling sick due to stress. Somatization is a complex process due to the relationship between the mind and body. Somatization is common and often unnoticed, as stress is mainly ignored. The symptoms are usually described as terrible, unbearable, etc.

What Are the Causes of Somatoform Disorders?

The exact cause of the disorder remains unknown; it is believed somatization disorders are inherited and run into families. People with these disorders have a desire to seek attention and care. The age of onset mainly ranges from 18 to 30 years of age with a female predilection.

Some of the Common Causes of the Disorder Are Listed Below:

• Genetic and biological factors can cause a reduced pain threshold.

• Environmental factors.

• Unawareness about problem processing emotions.

• Learned behaviors, where the person knows a particular behavior would benefit in some way or another.

These disorders commonly occur in people with drug and alcohol abuse. However, it can also happen that people with the somatoform disease become addicts to find relief from the symptoms like pain and distress.

What Are the Symptoms of Somatoform Disorders?

Pain is the most common symptom of the disorder, accompanied by other symptoms like shortness of breath, fatigue, weakness, etc. the symptoms can range from mild to severe. However, irrespective of any sign, a person tends to overthink the symptoms, which is the root cause of the disorder.

An Individual With Somatoform Disorder Presents:

• With constant worry.
• Considers typical physical signs as a severe physical illness.
• Afraid if the symptoms are severe, even when they do not exist.
• Doubting the treatment and the physician, thinking the treatment provided is inadequate.
• They think they have a more severe impairment than expected.

What Are the Complications of Somatoform Disorders?

Somatoform disorders, when continued for a long duration, can have serious consequences, which include:

• Poor health.
• Physical disability.
• Personal and professional relationship problems.
• Increased suicidal tendencies.
• Other psychiatric disorders like anxiety, depression, etc.
• Financial draining due to frequent medical visits.

How Are Somatoform Disorders Treated?

Treating somatoform disorders has been difficult as the subjects do not accept their symptoms have any association with the mental disorder. In addition, in cases with somatoform disorder, patients develop trust issues with the doctor and feel he is incapable of diagnosing the disease. Another factor that makes it challenging to treat somatoform disorders is developing physical symptoms due to other medical conditions, which makes it challenging to understand the root cause of the symptoms. Though treating this disorder is complex, the symptoms can be prevented to a certain extent in the following ways:

• Seeking timely help from professionals.
• Introspect yourself to know what causes stress and how it affects your body.
• Preventing a stressful environment.
• Symptomatic treatment must be accessed at the earliest.
• Treatment must not be discontinued without medical advice, which can prevent relapse or worsening of the condition.

Treatment mainly aims at improving an individual's symptoms and quality of life. Treatments can include psychotherapies such as cognitive behavior therapy, where a person can be counseled, and overanalysis and overthinking can be controlled by altering the thought process to a certain extent. Psychotherapists can help subjects understand the cause of the symptoms and overcome them. Healing therapy is of minor importance in cases with somatoform disorders. Family therapy and support from loved ones have proved effective in achieving quick results.

Lifestyle Modifications and Home Remedies Can Be Tried, Which Are as Follows:

1) Stress Management Activities: Stress management activities like relaxation, meditation, painting, or following any of your hobbies can effectively reduce symptoms.

2) Working Together with Healthcare Providers: Your cooperation and trust in your therapist can make the treatment more effective, and the rate of cure would be accelerated.

3) Exercise Regularly: Exercises like cycling, walking, or skipping can help relieve stress and make you feel better. Thus it is essential to exercise regularly for at least 30 minutes.

4) Participate: Get involved in conversations with the people around you. This can keep you busy and distracted.

5) Avoid Alcohol or Any Other Abusive Disease: Alcohol can cause hangovers and make people anxious, whereas other substances can cause dependence, leading to other complicated effects.

Before Your Appointment, Make a List Of:

• Common symptoms, along with the onset of the symptoms and their impact on your life.
• Probable causes, like any traumatic event in the past or history of abuse, should also be noted.
• Any knowledge in the healthcare sector about diseases or medications must also be written.
• If on any medications or supplements, their names and dosages should be mentioned.
• Any doubts or questions that need to be answered by your physician must also be noted.

Conclusion:

Somatoform disorders are a group of disorders where a person exacerbates his physical symptoms; the reason for this remains unknown, but it is considered to have a family history. Such individuals always complain of headaches, stomach aches, tiredness, etc. The symptoms are mainly due to overthinking. Treatment in such cases becomes difficult as the subject is reluctant to accept the symptoms associated with any mental disorder. Therefore, patients with the somatoform disorder are advised to make lifestyle modifications that include regular exercise, medications, and self-help strategies.