Somatoform disorder
“If your body is screaming in pain, whether the pain is muscular contractions, anxiety, depression, asthma or arthritis, a first step in releasing the pain may be making the connection between your body pain and the cause. “Beliefs are physical. A thought held long enough and repeated enough becomes a belief. The belief then becomes biology.” ― Marilyn Van M. Derbur, Miss America by Day
Have you ever felt symptoms of a physiological problem but have been diagnosed with none? Probably not because it is not a very common disorder. A few years back it was often attributed that such symptoms are due to supernatural causes. Fortunately, after the advancement and research in psychological disorders it has been clearly attributed as somatoform disorder. So even if you have it or any person you know has it, you people do not need to worry about any supernatural logic behind it.
What is Somatoform Disorder?
Somatoform disorder is a psychological disorder that manifests as physical symptoms that suggest illness or injury but do not explain any medical conditions. If you have somatoform disorder then you feel depressed and have physical and mental distress.
Main Symptoms of Somatoform Disorder
The main symptoms of somatoform disorders are unknown but some factors that outline the presence of this type of psychological disorders are the following:
- Sensation of pain
- Shortness of breath
- Fatigue
- Weakness
- Unrelated causes identified and some medical causes include cancer and heart diseases
- Always worried about potential illness
- Severe physical illness viewed
- Fear that the symptoms are serious
- Thinking that physical sensations are harmful
- Feeling that physical activity causes body damage
- Thinking that medical evaluation has not been adequate
- Checking body abnormalities again and again
- Visit of health care centers do not give you relief but make the situation worse
- Sensitive to medicine sides effects
Main Causes of Somatoform Disorder?
The main causes of somatoform disorders are unknown but some factors that can be the possible cause of this type of psychological disorder are the following:
- Due to family history of somatoform disorder
- Due to some biological factors
- Personality trait of negativity
- Decreased awareness
- Learned behavior
- Problem processing emotions
Risk Factors
Somatoform disorder can happen to anyone but there are some characteristics or life events that make certain people more at risk of its development. Following are the risk factors for somatoform disorders:
- You have depression, stress and anxiety
- Family history of somatoform disorder
- You may learn this behavior from the people around you
- Stressful events in life such as the death of love ones or traumas
- Have a lower education
- Have a low socio-economic status
Prevention of Somatoform Disorders
If you notice that you have one or more than one of the factors that make you more prone towards the development of somatoform disorder then you must take some preventive measures to save yourself from this disease. Following are the preventions which you have to take for fast recovery and will help you to overcome symptoms you may experience:
- Consult the psychiatrist if you have stress, depression or any type of anxiety
- Adopt some relaxation techniques
- Stick with the treatment
- Follow the instructions of your doctor
How the doctors treat somatoform disorder?
Doctors can treat the somatoform disorder by the help of following methods and techniques:
- Psychotherapy
- Medications
- Lifestyle changes