Somatoform Disorders

A person with somatization disorder has numerous physical symptoms over many years that suggest the person has a medical illness, but the symptoms cannot be explained fully by a medical diagnosis. The symptoms, called somatic complaints, cause significant distress or impair the person's ability to function. The symptoms are real: The patient is not "faking," and the symptoms are not under the person's conscious control.People with somatization disorder have multiple complaints over many years, involving several different areas of the body. For example, the same person might complain of back pain, headaches, chest discomfort, and gastrointestinal or urinary distress. Sexual complaints are common, such as irregular menstruation in women or erectile dysfunction (impotence) in men...more