ABSTRACT
Individuals who exhibit multiple somatic symptoms o en present to medical practitioners believing that they are physically ill, yet upon evaluation, they are informed that there is no known physiological source underlying their reports of distress. Although many of these patients will be satis ed with negative medical examination results, a signi cant subgroup will anxiously continue to worry about the possibility of su ering from a yet undiagnosed physical disease-a phenomenon known as somatization. Somatization denotes the presence of physical symptoms (e.g., chest pain) for which no demonstrable disease process or bodily oriented pathology can be identi ed as the cause. ese individuals are likely to continue to seek help for their physical symptoms, demand more physical examinations and specialist referrals, undergo costly laboratory tests, and in rare cases, even end up on an operating table (Harth & Hermes, 2007; Warwick & Salkovskis, 1990). At the extreme, such somatization behavior can interfere with life activities and goals, resulting in clinically signi cant impairment-a phenomenon typically classi ed as somatization disorder. Yet, somatization processes frequently occur in other “somatic disorders,” including hypochondriasis, pain disorder, conversion disorder, and body dysmorphic disorder, as well as many other psychiatric conditions (e.g., panic disorder, major depressive disorder).
