Somatic symptom disorders is an umbrella term denoting a collection of conditions in which patients experience emotional distress stemming from physical and imagined symptoms. Typically, a patient experiences sensations that may or may not necessarily link with actual underlying conditions (Kurlansik & Maffei, 2016). Repeated thoughts about illnesses often result in stress, anxiety, psychological instability, and disability. Somatic symptoms disorder manifests as physical pain, lack of or shortness of breath, weakness, and fatigue. Equally, patients exhibit abnormal thoughts resulting in excessive worrying about potential illness and the severity of an underlying disease even with no substantive evidence, perceiving physical pain and other symptoms as life-endangering, scrutinizing their bodies for anomalies and deformities. Besides, they dread physical activities due to fear of injuries,  frequently seek medical care,  and underestimate medical procedures’ intensity and efficacy (Henningsen, 2018).

According to Lowe & Gerloff (2018), culture significantly shapes perceptions, presentations, and approaches to all illnesses. In communities with limited understanding and differentiation between anxiety, depression, and somatic disorders, patients may be mistakenly diagnosed as suffering from multiple rather than a single psychological disease. In the case of Body Dysmorphic Disorder, cultures emphasizing accurate body presentation increase the incidences of imagined body deformities among their populations. Using  DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) analysis, a psychologist can adequately discern between symptoms (like a headache) stemming from natural factors and one emanating from conversion disorder (Bransfield & Friedman, 2019). Typically, treating somatic symptom disorders requires a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is an effective strategy that helps patients analyze their expectations about health, alleviates depression, adopts coping strategies, reduces preoccupation and avoidance, and enhances active participation in daily activities (Henningsen, 2019). Alternatively, antidepressants are useful in lowering various symptoms linked to somatic symptom disorders.

Reference

Bransfield, R. C., & Friedman, K. J. (2019). Differentiating Psychosomatic, Somatopsychic, Multisystem Illnesses, and Medical Uncertainty. Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 7(4), 114. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare7040114

Henningsen, P. (2018). Management of somatic symptom disorder. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 20(1), 23.

Kurlansik, S. L., & Maffei, M. S. (2016). Somatic symptom disorder. American Family Physician, 93(1), 49-54.

Löwe, B., & Gerloff, C. (2018). Functional somatic symptoms across cultures: perceptual and health care issues. Psychosomatic medicine, 80(5), 412-415.