Dissociative and Somatoform Disorders, Other Mental Deseases

Q: St. Johns Wort, Does anyone take this ?

A: If you start taking it regularly be sure to tell your doctor and be careful when you're in the sun. You will burn more easily for some reason.

The iconic Norman Rockwell painting of a family doctor checking the heart of a young patient’s doll may seem quaint, but it’s far from old-fashioned. On the contrary, personalized medicine is bringing the family doctor back … and the family nurse, and the family pharmacist, and a whole team of family health care providers. Only [...]

In the United States, it is common for people who develop hypochondriasis to be troubled by the idea that they have serious illnesses, such as cancer. The koro and dhat syndromes of the Far East share some clinical features with hypochondriasis. Although these syndromes may seem foreign to North American readers, each is connected with [...]

Somatization disorder, formerly known as Briquet’s syndrome, is characterized by multiple and recurrent somatic complaints that begin prior to the age of 30 (but usually during the teen years). These complaints persist for at least several years, and result either in the seeking of medical attention or in significant impairment in fulfilling social or occupational [...]

The major feature of somatoform pain disorder is pain associated with psychological factors, such as stressful life events. The psychological factors may contribute to the development, severity, or maintenance of the pain. The pain is severe enough and persistent enough to interfere with the person’s daily functioning. For example, the pain may make it difficult [...]

People with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) are preoccupied with an imagined or exaggerated physical defect in their appearance. They may spend hours examining themselves in the mirror and go to extreme measures to correct the perceived defect, even undergoing invasive or unpleasant medical procedures, including unnecessary plastic surgery (Crerand et al., 2005). Others remove all [...]

The core feature of hypochondriasis is a preoccupation or fear that one’s physical symptoms are due to a serious, underlying illness, such as cancer or heart disease. The fear persists despite medical reassurances that it is groundless (see Table 7.6). Hypochondriasis is believed to affect about 1% to 5% of the general population and about [...]

A woman staggered into the emergency room of a New York City hospital bleeding from the mouth, clutching her stomach and wailing with pain. Even in that setting, forever serving bleeders and clutchers and wailers, there was something about her, some terrible star quality that held cente stage. Her pain was larger than life.

Conversion disorder is characterized by a major change in or loss of physical functioning, although no medical findings are found to account for the physical symptoms or deficits (see Table 7.5). The symptoms are not intentionally produced. The person is not malingering. The physical symptoms usually come on suddenly in stressful situations. A soldier’s hand [...]