Stop moving! Pain, body and trauma in pictures and narratives of patients, suffering with a somatoform disorder

Somatoform pain disorders are strongly associated with adverse, mostly traumatic childhood experiences. Little is known, however, about the psychodynamic background, for example, regard to defence, affect regulation, and representations. As part of a qualitative study in which 13 patients somatoform disorder were investigated, we compared interviews drawings by two featured most pictorial codes deaffectualization as defence autistoid type early that displayed fewest deaffectualization. These suffered from more mature, non-autistoid disorder. The analyzed according Visual Grounded Theory, Content Analysis. We used atlas.ti-software. In high evidence deaffectualization, correspondence was found between sensation: Physical movements led an increase pain. affective well physical rigidity may have been intended avoid body image's fragmentation. mature showed strong, partly violent interactions. narratives, tended report feelings agitation; generally, could be allowed. all four patients, considerable identified narratives dimension imaginary determined both physically (on level image) pictorially mental through regulation affects.