PURPOSE Because recognition and management of patients with somatoform disorders are diffi cult, we wanted to determine the specifi city, sensitivity, and the test-retest reliability of the 15-symptom Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-15) for detection of somatoform disorders in a high-risk primary care population. METHODS We studied the performance of the PHQ-15 in comparison with the Structur...

Background and Objectives: There is increasing interest in the issue of demoralization, particularly in the setting of medical disease. The aim of this investigation was to use both DSM-IV comorbidity and the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research (DCPR) in order to characterize demoralization in the medically ill. Methods: 1700 patients were recruited from 8 medical centers in the Ital...

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...

Pain represents a frequent symptom in various psychiatric disorders ranging from so called psychogenic or somatoform disorders to depression, to schizophrenia and to organic brain syndromes including dementia. Th alamic lesions are long known to induce painful symptoms. Th e cortex is involved in pain awareness. Th e locus coeruleus modulates pain perception. Various facets of pain in a range o...

Normal aging is no disease. The individual lifestyle may be responsible for a large fraction of the so-called 'age-related' changes. An increasing number of healthy individuals make use of 'lifestyle' drugs, such as nootropics, psychopharmaca, hormones and ecodrugs. In this respect, the fact that many people try to improve their outer appearance, to solve their 'cosmetic problems', to influence...

BACKGROUND Medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS) are physical symptoms for which no adequate medical explanation can be found after proper examination. The presence of MUPS is the key feature of conditions known as 'somatoform disorders'. Various psychological and physical therapies have been developed to treat somatoform disorders and MUPS. Although there are several reviews on non-ph...

OBJECTIVE The new DSM-5 Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) emphasizes the importance of psychological processes related to somatic symptoms in patients with somatoform disorders. To address this, the Somatic Symptoms Experiences Questionnaire (SSEQ), the first self-report scale that assesses a broad range of psychological and interactional characteristics relevant to patients with a somatoform diso...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed (1) to describe frequencies of DSM IV somatisation disorder, undifferentiated somatoform disorder and pain disorder versus DSM 5 somatic symptom disorder (SSD) in a multi-setting population of patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS), (2) to investigate differences in sociodemographic and (psycho)pathological characteristics between these diagnosti...

Medically unexplained symptoms are considered 'somatoform disorders' in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV). The introduction of this nosographic category has been helpful in drawing attention to a previously neglected area, but has not been successful in promoting an understanding of the disorders' biological basis and treatment implications...

The prevalence of mental morbidity including comorbidity with physical illnesses in a rural primary health centre is very high. Most common entitites in the diagnostic group according to DSM-IU-R were mood disorders (28%), somatoform disorders (27%), and anxiety disorders (17.6%). Majority of them presented with somatic symptoms. There were significant differences in rates for mental disorders ...