Somatoform disorder

Somatoform disorder, also known as Briquet's syndrome (named after Paul Briquet), or Brissaud–Marie syndrome (named after Édouard Brissaud and Pierre Marie), is a mental disorder characterized by physical symptoms that mimic physical disease or injury for which there is no identifiable physical cause. The symptoms that result from a somatoform disorder are due to mental factors. In people who have somatoform disorder, medical test results are either normal or don't explain the person's symptoms. People who have this disorder may undergo several medical evaluations and tests to be sure that they do not have an illness related to a physical cause or central lesion. Patients with this disorder often become very worried about their health because the doctors are unable to find a cause for their health problems. Their symptoms are similar to the symptoms of other illnesses and may last for several years.

A diagnosis of a somatoform disorder implies that mental factors are a large contributor to the symptoms' onset, severity and duration. Somatoform disorders are not the result of conscious malingering or factitious disorders.

Recognized somatoform disorders
The somatoform disorders recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association are: Included among these disorders are false pregnancy, psychogenic urinary retention, and mass psychogenic illness (so-called mass hysteria).
 * Conversion disorder
 * Somatization disorder
 * Hypochondriasis
 * Body dysmorphic disorder
 * Pain disorder
 * Undifferentiated somatoform disorder - only one unexplained symptom is required for at least 6 months.


 * Somatoform disorder Not Otherwise Specified (NOS)

Proposed somatoform disorders
Additional proposed somatoform disorders are:
 * Abridged somatization disorder - at least 4 unexplained somatic complaints in men and 6 in women
 * Multisomatoform disorder - at least 3 unexplained somatic complaints from the PRIME-MD scale for at least 2 years of active symptoms

These disorders have been proposed because the recognized somatoform disorders are either too restrictive or too broad. In a study of 119 primary care patients, the following prevalences were found:
 * Somatization disorder - 1%
 * Abridged somatization disorder - 6%
 * Multisomatoform disorder - 24%
 * Undifferentiated somatoform disorder - 79%