OBJECTIVE Our objective was to review and compare, with meta-analytic methods, observational studies on the association of medically unexplained physical symptoms, anxiety, and depression with special emphasis on healthy and organically ill control groups and on different types of symptoms, measures, and illness behavior. METHODS A search of MEDLINE and PsycLIT/PsycINFO for abstracts from 198...

BACKGROUND Gastrointestinal complaints are very common in the general population and very often co-occur with common mental disorders. We aimed to study the prospective impact of gastrointestinal complaints on long term sickness absence, and address the contribution from co-occurring common mental disorders and other somatic symptoms. METHOD Health data on 13 880 40-45 year olds from the Hord...

aim and background: one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders is irritable bowel syndrome (ibs) which is characterized by symptoms such as abdominal pain and altered bowel habits in the absence of any organic disorder. this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy on somatic symptoms in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. method and materials...

The aim of this study was to examine the validity of a Danish adaptation of the Itch Severity Scale (ISS) by exploring the associations between pruritus severity, psychological symptoms, and quality of life in a consecutively recruited sample of 20 patients with atopic dermatitis, 20 with psoriasis, 20 with urticaria, 12 with genital pruritus, 11 with nephrogenic pruritus, and 20 controls with ...

BACKGROUND The estimated prevalence of clinically significant psychiatric and somatic symptoms in adults >1 year after the 2004 Asian tsunami is unknown. AIMS To estimate the prevalence of psychiatric and somatic symptoms and impairment in Sri Lanka 20-21 months after the 2004 Asian tsunami, and to assess coping strategies used by tsunami-affected individuals that contribute to post-tsunami a...

Anxiety is one of the most common psychopathological symptoms. It based on feeling a strong threat without triggering real stimulus. They are often accompanied by somatic symptoms, making it difficult to function normally and carry out daily activities. The causes anxiety disorders include genetic environmental factors. can take form of, but not limited to, generalized disorder panic disorder, ...

background: patients with breast cancer are predisposed to some psychiatric symptoms and mental disorders due to their life styles or disease conditions. these problems cause patients to deal with daily stress, feeling guilty, anxiety, dysphoric mood and impaired social relations. such problems will lead to serious mental disorders. therefore, life skills training may help the patients to cope ...

BACKGROUND The diagnosis of somatisation disorder in DSM-IV was based on 'medically unexplained' symptoms, which is unsatisfactory. AIMS To determine the value of a total somatic symptom score as a predictor of health status and healthcare use after adjustment for anxiety, depression and general medical illness. METHOD Data from nine population-based studies (total n = 28 377) were analysed...