Somatoform Disorder Research Paper

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Examining the Relationship between Childhood Abuse and Somatoform Disorders
Introduction
Although there is increasing awareness of the psychological and social adaptations to childhood abuse, little is documented about the long-term possible disorder that could result from of such abuse. There is literature that’s presently available suggesting the belief that childhood abuse contributes to the development of somatoform disorders later in life. Many healthy young children express emotional distress in terms of physical pain, such as stomachaches or headaches, but these complaints are usually brief and do not affect the child's overall daily life. In contrast somatoform disorders represent the severe end of a continuum of somatic symptoms. …show more content…

One could say it is the transference of a person mental anguish into physical issues. Individuals with somatization disorder may complain about their symptoms in a very dramatic way, yet describe the symptoms in very vague or unclear terms. They may also visit more than one doctor for diagnosis and treatment for the same symptoms, have test results that do not confirm any medical illness to explain their symptoms. A person with somatization disorder is not intentionally producing or pretending to experience these physical complaints. You should have at least one reference in this …show more content…

Of these subjects, 78.7% reported a history of childhood maltreatment: emotional neglect (68.0%), emotional abuse (56.0%), physical abuse (34.7%), physical neglect (33.3%), and sexual abuse (28.0%). Forty percent of subjects reported severe maltreatment. Among females (n = 52), severity of reported abuse and neglect were .32–. 57 standard deviation units higher than norms for a health maintenance organization (HMO) sample of women. Severity of sexual abuse was the only type of maltreatment significantly associated with current BDD severity (r = .23, p = .047). However, severity of sexual abuse did not predict current BDD severity in a simultaneous multiple regression analysis with age and current treatment

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