In addition to the Somatoform Disorders, as listed in DSM-IV, such as Somatization Disorder (SD), Conversion Disorder (CD), Hypochondriasis (HD), Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), Pain Disorder, and Undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder (USD), there are a group of disorders called “Functional Somatic Syndromes” (4), such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or Fibromyalgia. Facti...

In this paper, a way of accounting the traumatic experience, its effects on the individual, and the ways to help its assimilation with special reference to somatization is described. A dynamic model that puts the traumatic experiences in relation with the subject, and the processes through which both the subject and the experience become what they are, is contrary to the current medical model o...

BACKGROUND Alexithymia is a personality trait characterized by deficits in regulating, experiencing and verbalizing emotions and has been assumed to be associated with a tendency to express emotional arousal through somatization. Although such a tendency is often observed in patients with dizziness, the exact relationship of alexithymia to dizziness is not yet known. The aim of this study was t...

OBJECTIVE This paper reviews the present state of knowledge on the etiology, prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of somatization disorder (SD). METHOD A comprehensive review of the literature on SD is described under the above headings. RESULTS SD is a common condition that is not well managed by many physicians. Patients with SD get caught between the cracks of the health care system, wit...

OBJECTIVE Pediatric somatization studies have used the 35-item Child Somatization Inventory (CSI-35) or psychometrically refined 24-item CSI (CSI-24). Exploratory factor analysis of the CSI-24 has identified a single factor that did not show good model fit in confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Further evaluation of the CSI-24 factor structure is needed. METHODS The present study examined alt...

PURPOSE To examine the risk factors for internalizing (anxiety, depression) and posttraumatic stress (PTSD) disorders, somatization, and anxiety sensitivity (AS) in youth with psychogenic non-epileptic seizures (PNES). METHODS 55 probands with PNES and 35 siblings, aged 8-18 years, underwent a psychiatric interview, cognitive and language testing, and completed somatization and AS questionnai...

The current study investigated whether mindfulness and psychological flexibility uniquely and separately accounted for variability in psychological distress (somatization, depression, anxiety, and general psychological distress). An ethnically diverse, non-clinical sample of college undergraduates (N = 494, 76% female) completed a web-based survey that included the selfreport measures of intere...

The authors of the widely cited studies analyzing the Swedish adoption records of the children of alcoholics have advanced the notion that there are three distinct paths for the inheritance of alcoholism. One path results in moderate alcoholism in men and a form of somatization but no alcoholism in women. A second path results in severe and mild alcoholism in men and alcoholism in women. The th...

OBJECTIVE To conduct a multimethod psychometric evaluation to refine the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI) and to investigate its dimensionality. METHOD The CSI was administered to 876 pediatric patients with chronic abdominal pain at their initial visit to a pediatric gastroenterology clinic. Tools from three psychometric models identified items that most effectively measured the const...