ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews somatic symptom disorders from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) perspective highlighting the prevalence, nature, and the diagnostic validity of such diagnoses. It outlines how a dimensional perspective that focuses on key biobehavioral processes may be a more useful approach for understanding somatic disorders than the DSM’s categorical approach. The chapter discusses how a dimensional perspective and focus on dysfunctional processes related to illness behavior can be translated into treatments for somatic symptom disorders. It addresses some key vulnerability processes for somatic symptom disorders. DSM-5 distinguishes between five somatic symptom and related disorders: somatic symptom disorder, illness anxiety disorder, conversion disorder, psychological factors affecting other medical conditions, and factitious disorder. The overwhelming finding from cross-cultural studies is that the somatic manifestation and expression of emotional distress is universal, but the focus of somatic concern may vary in different cultures.
