What is Somatic symptom disorder?
{{Restructure|date=March 2025}}{{Wikify|date=March 2025}} A '''somatic symptom disorder''' is a [[Mental illness|mental condition]] in which a person has physical [[Symptom|symptoms]]. ==Overview== Symptoms of somatic symptom disorder can hardly be explained by a medical condition or [[substance abuse]]. Symptoms include [[Dyspnea|shortness of breath]], [[pain]] and [[Fatigue|weakness]].<ref>{{cite magazine|title=What are the Somatic Symptom Disorders|magazine=The American Psychiatry Association|url=https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/somatic-symptom-disorder/what-is-somatic-symptom-disorder#:~:text=Somatic%20symptom%20disorder%20is%20diagnosed,relating%20to%20the%20physical%20symptoms|access-date=April 2, 2022}}</ref> ==History== Before 2013, somatic symptom disorders were called somatoform disorders. ==Differential diagnosis== Symptoms can be similar to other conditions. They will sometimes last for years.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Somatoform Disorders|journal=Thieme|year=2009 |doi=10.1055/s-0029-1223875 |url=https://www.thieme-connect.de/products/ejournals/abstract/10.1055/s-0029-1223875|access-date=April 2, 2022|last1=Lafrance |first1=W. |volume=29 |issue=3 |pages=234–246 |pmid=19551600 }}</ref> ==Prevalence== Females report somatic problems almost ten times as often as males of the same or similar mental conditions. Symptoms often happen before age 50, but usual diagnoses are age 30 and earlier.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A New Somatic Symptoms Disorder under DSM-V Risks Labeling People as Having Mental Illness|journal=BMJ|year=2013 |pmid=23511949 |url=https://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f1580|access-date=April 2, 2022|last1=Frances |first1=A. |volume=346 |pages=f1580 |doi=10.1136/bmj.f1580 |s2cid=206897269 }}</ref> The disorder is very [[Controversy|controversial]] because some individuals say that the name refers to mental illness. ==References== {{reflist}} {{biology-stub}} {{Mental disorders}} [[Category:Health]] [[Category:Psychiatry]] [[Category:Psychology]] [[Category:Physiology]