Somatic Symptom Disorder

what is somatic symptom disorder?

SSD also known as Somatoform disorder is a mental illness that causes physical symptoms in the individuals body like pain, shortness of breath and these symptoms may or may not be associated with medical condition but still a person feel these physical symptoms. The person having SSD has excessive thoughts.

You may be wondering that why this disorder is caused? Here are some main reasons:-

•poor emotional development during childhood(neglect from parents or lack of emotional closeness)

•childhood physical and sexual abuse

•heightened attention to bodily sensations

•substance abuse/alcohol abuse

•chaotic lifestyle/trauma

•presence of excessive anxiety

There are basically 4 types of somatic symptom disorder:-

• Pain Disorder- individual suffers from chronic pain for which medical attention has been given but that appears to have no physical cause.
• Hypochondriasis- individual fears that he/she has a serious disease due to which they seek frequent medical attention but there is no such disease present in reality its all in their head.
• Conversion disorder- individual suffers from a specific disability like paralysis, blindness etc., but there is no specific medical cause for this instead it occurs due to psychological cause.
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder- false perception of a defect in an individual’s physical appearance.

Treatment:-

1.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

-reduce preoccupation with symptoms

-learn how to reduce stress

-cope up with physical symptoms

2.Medications- antidepressant and other medications prescribed by doctors.

3.Some Home Treatments

-Get physically active

-avoid alcohol and drugs

-practice stress management