The somatoform disorders are a major diagnostic class in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition, text revision (DSM IV) which groups together conditions characterized by physical symptoms suggestive of but not fully explained by general medical or the direct effects of a substance. In this class symptoms are not intentionally produced and are not attributable to another mental disorder. The disorders included in this class are somatization disorder, conversion disorder, pain disorder, hypochondiasis, undifferentiated somatoform disorder, body dysmorphic disorder and somatoform disorder not otherwise specified (First &Allan Tasman 2010).
There appear to be sufficient reasons to group together the disorders mainly characterized by medically unexplained somatic symptoms; the predominance of such symptoms is a sufficient basis for the grouping of these disorders but it is still debated as to how these disorders are to be conceptualized, named, and classified. Because there is general dissatisfaction with the current conceptualization and classification of somatoform disorders, debate on the future of these conditions is much needed. The collaboration between psychiatrists and nonpsychiatric physicians is crucial in this debate, with the ultimate goal being adoption of a system that would be uniform and acceptable to all Vladan Starcevic, (2006).
For instance, Mayou et al. (2005) disagree with the current classification and overall concept of somatoform disorders. Among others, their criticisms include that the category is a “speculative category” with unproven validity, that psychological reaction to functional symptoms are classified differently from psychological reaction to physical disease w...
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...s, including when the symptoms are amplified by vicious circles beyond the original peripheral signal intensity. Cultural models of causal attributions of symptoms are powerful contributors in this regard; they set up expectations of the symptoms’ etiology and course. According to Kirkmayer and Sartorius (2007) Analysis of illness narratives collected from diverse ethnocultural groups suggests that somatic symptoms are located in multiple systems of meaning that serve diverse psychological and social functions. Depending on circumstances, these symptoms can be seen as an index of disease or disorder, an indication of psychopathology, a symbolic condensation of intrapsychic conflict, a culturally coded expression of distress, a medium for expressing social discontent, and a mechanism through which patients attempt to reposition themselves within their local worlds.
Understanding psychological disorders are very important in human development, the first step is to define what is meant by a disorder. How do psychologists determine that there something is psychologically wrong with a person? What behaviours are abnormal? A psychological disorder, also known as a mental disorder, is a pattern of behavioural or psychological symptoms that impact multiple life areas and/or create distress for the person experiencing these symptoms. A clear sign of abnormal behaviour or mental state is when an individual's behaviour is destructive to themselves or their social group, such as family, friends. Above all psychological disorders create a maladaptive pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that lead to detriments in relationships and other life areas. There are several ethical issues in treating psychological disorders. There two ways of treating psychological disorders through; psychotherapy this form of treatment involves social interactions between a trained professional (therapist) and client. This is delivered on a one-to-one, face-to-face meeting. Another way of treating psychological disorder is through pharmacological treatments. This is the use of proactive drugs to treat certain disorders. This essay will aim to highlight the pros and cons of using pharmacological and psychological treatments.
Biological theorists, have very little to say since there seems to be no physical cause of the symptoms, except that there may be some genetic predisposition to Somatoform disorders.
The ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders: Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1992. Print.
Health according to the Constitution adopted by the International Health Conference held in New York in 1946 which led to the foundation of the World Health Organization (WHO) was defined as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” (World Health Organization 2006, pp. 1-18) and it was observed a fundamental right of every human being to enjoy the highest attainable standard of health irrespective of race, religion, political belief, economic or social condition (WHO, 2006). However Yurkovich and Lattergrass (2008) urged the impossibility of the existence of a universal definition of health as cultural context within which an individual is raised inevitably affects the person’s perceptions of health and wellness and as Spector (2003) advocated without careful observation of community and culture healthcare providers and the recipients would be like two separate groups trying to communicate in different languages. In these contexts, social messages, language, customs, and rituals serve as a form of social communication, which constitute an integral part of culture and as a result, affect treatment outcomes (Green, 2010; Naidoo and Wills eds., 2008). Conrad (1999) and Lawton (2003) (cited in Swami et al. 2009) pointed lay people perceived health and illness as something integrated into daily life, fuelling a shift from utterly bio-medical frameworks towards more holistic understandings of health and ill-health, but illness and healing according to Green (2010) and Cartwright (2010) are elaborated and socially constructed concepts and individuals acquire characteristics like capacity to represent the external world, think and communicate, explain their place in the...
Schildkrout, Barbara. “Unmasking Psychological Symptoms: How Therapists Can Learn To Recognize The Psychological Presentation Of Medical Disorders”. n.p.: Hoboken, N.J. : John Wiley & Sons, c2011., 2011. USMAI Catalog. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Deborah Lupton, 2012. Medicine as Culture: Illness, Disease and the Body. Third Edition Edition. SAGE publication Ltd.
Weisman, M.M., Livingston, B.M., Leaf, P.J., Florio, L.P., Holzer, C. (1991). Psychiatric Disorders in America. Affective Disorders. Free Press.
...h with their own symptoms, causes, and solutions. In anxiety disorders, the affected person will experience dread or fear in response to certain situations or places. In severe cases, the person cannot regulate these feelings, which could possibly result in an attack. In mood disorders, the affected person feels fluctuating emotions in extremes. Among these, the most common include bipolar disorder and depression. In psychotic disorders, the victim has a distorted perception of reality, involving thinking and the five senses. The most common symptoms include visual hallucinations, hearing voices or other delusions, and the person cannot decipher these hallucinations from reality. In eating disorders, the person experiences compulsions involving food, weight, and self image. Among these disorders, the most common include bulimia, anorexia, and binge eating disorder.
Compared with individualistic Western cultures however; health professionals such as psychiatrists and other medical doctors are not yet fully trained to deal with patients complaining of symptoms that are not necessarily somatic. This is due to the fact that “for decades since the late introduction of psychiatry as a subject in medical schools in Asia, all that was taught was 10 lecture-demonstrations of the severely psychotic or depressed mentally ill patients, more as oddities in medical practice than as ill persons who needed to be understood.” (Deshvara) Thus with medical professionals being unable to fully provide an unconditionally positive and supportive environment needed for the growth of mentally ill patients; placing the pressure on one’s self to heal quickly in order to decrease the chances of a negative reputation among the community and among family members increases. Moreover, in collectivist cultures, emphasis on somatic complaints may result from the belief that emotional distress is caused by physical ailments and that it will cease upon proper medical treatment for the physical problem. By emphasizing the importance of physical,
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is the comprehensive guide to diagnosing psychological disorders. This manual is published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and is currently in its fifth revision. Moreover, the manual is utilized by a multitude of mental health care professionals around the world in the process of identifying individuals with disorders and provides a comprehensive list of the various disorders that have been identified. The DSM serves as the essential resource for diagnosis of mental disorders based off of the various signs and symptoms displayed by individuals while also providing a basic reference point for the treatment of the different disorders. The manual attempts to remain scientific in its approach to identifying the underlying symptoms of each disorder while meeting the needs of the different psychological perspectives and the various mental health fields. The DSM has recently gone through a major revision from the DSM-IV-TR to the DSM-5 and contains many significant changes in both the diagnosis of mental disorders and their classifications.
Through showing the different definitions of health, the authors explain how those different understandings affect patterns of behavior on health depend on different cultures. In addition, an analysis of the models of health demonstrates even western medical approaches to health have different cognitions, same as the Indigenous health beliefs. The most remarkable aspect is a balance, a corresponding core element in most cultures which is an important consideration in Indigenous health as well. From an Indigenous perspective, health is considered as being linked, and keeping the connection is a priority to preserve their health. Consequently, health is a very much culturally determined. Health practitioners should anticipate and respect the cultural differences when they encounter a patient from various cultures. In particular, this article is good to understand why the Indigenous health beliefs are not that different than western medicine views using appropriate examples and comparative composition, even though the implementation the authors indicated is a bit abstract, not
In Psychological Factitious Disorder (PsyFD), the individual will assume mentally and emotionally that they are suffering from a menta...
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) has been used for decades as a guidebook for the diagnosis of mental disorders in clinical settings. As disorders and diagnoses evolve, new versions of the manual are published. This tends to happen every 10 years or so with the first manual (DSM-I) having been published in 1952. For the purpose of this discussion, we will look at the DSM-IV, which was published originally in 1994, and the latest version, DSM-5, that was published in May of 2013. Each version of the DSM contains “three major components: the diagnostic classification, the diagnostic criteria sets, and the descriptive text” (American Psychiatric Association, 2012). Within the diagnostic classification you will find a list of disorders and codes which professionals in the health care field use when a diagnosis is made. The diagnostic criteria will list symptoms of disorders and inform practitioners how long a patient should display those symptoms in order to meet the criteria for diagnosis of a disorder. Lastly, the descriptive text will describe disorders in detail, including topics such as “Prevalence” and “Differential Diagnosis” (APA, 2012). The recent update of the DSM from version IV-TR to 5 has been controversial for many reasons. Some of these reasons include the overall structure of the DSM to the removal of certain disorders from the manual.
A psychosomatic illness “is a disease which involves both mind [psyche] and body [soma]” and “is thought to be caused, or made worse, by mental factors.” These mental factors include stress and anxiety. Stress causes the release of a wide variety of hormones into th...
Mental disorders which falls under the umbrella of Abnormal psychology can be attributed to the ability to treat and diagnose mental disorders. Based on advances such as the development of the scientific method psychologists are now able to fully and efficiently attribute the causes of mental disorders to physical and unphysical traits. The process i...