ABSTRACT
Individuals exhibiting multiple somatic symptoms often present to medical practitioners believing that they are physically sick, yet upon evaluation, are informed that there are no known physiological mechanisms underlying their reports of distress. Although many of these patients will be satisfied with negative medical examination results and some reassurance to that effect, a significant subgroup will anxiously continue to ruminate about the possibility of suffering from a yet undiagnosed physical disease, a phenomenon known as somatization. Specifically, somatization denotes the presence of physical symptoms (e.g., chest pain, gastrointestinal distress) for which no demonstrable disease process or bodily oriented pathology can be identified at the current time. These 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 (Warwick & Salkovskis, 1990). At the extreme, such somatization behavior can interfere with life activities and goals, resulting in clinically significant impairment, a phenomenon typically classified as somatization disorder. Yet, somatization processes frequently occur in other somatic disorders, including hypochon-driasis, pain disorder, conversion disorder, and body dysmorphic disorder, as well as many other psychiatric conditions (e.g., panic disorder, major depressive disorder).
