ABSTRACT
Individuals exhibiting multiple somatic symptoms often 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 satisfied with negative medical examination results, a significant subgroup will anxiously continue to worry about these physical symptoms-a phenomenon traditionally known as somatization. Somatization denotes the presence of physical symptoms (e.g., chest pain) for which a demonstrable disease process or bodily oriented pathology is not identified, but which cause distress for and impairment to the individual. Individuals who do not receive a medical diagnosis for their symptoms 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 significant impairment-a phenomenon typically classified by the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, 2013) as somatic symptom disorder. Yet, somatization processes frequently occur in other “somatic disorders,” including conversion disorder, illness anxiety disorder, and factitious disorder, as well as many other psychiatric conditions (e.g., panic disorder, major depressive disorder; DSM-5, 2013).
