Somatoform Disorders Involve physical symptoms that have no organic (biological) cause (ulcers, asthma, high blood pressure); brought on by psychological distress. Conversion Disorder • A psychological conflict or need (emotional difficulties) is converted into dramatic physical symptoms that affect voluntary or sensory functioning. Person temporarily loses some bodily function. No physical damage to cause problems • Symptoms often seem neurological, such as paralysis, blindness, or loss of feeling • Most conversion disorders begin between late childhood and young adulthood • They usually appear suddenly and are thought to be rare • How do conversion disorders differ from regular disabilities? – They tend to appear when the person is under extreme stress – The symptoms may be physiologically impossible or improbable (Ex: “glove anesthesia,” where lack of feeling stops abruptly at the wrist, even though nerves extend through the arm) – The person may show remarkably little concern about what most people would think was a rather serious problem • Most psychologists believe that people suffering from conversion disorders unconsciously invent physical symptoms to gain freedom from unbearable conflic • Examples: • A woman who lived in terror of blurting out things she did not want to say lost the power of speech. • A college student experienced total blindness every Monday morning, but her vision would begin to return by Friday evening and was fully restored in time for weekend social activities Figure 14.10: Glove anesthesia. In conversion disorders, the physical complaints are sometimes inconsistent with the known facts of physiology. For instance, given the patterns of nerve distribution in the arm shown in (a), it is impossible that a loss of feeling in the hand. Watch Teens Uncontrollable Mystery Illness http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcKL8ihDL2Y&fe ature=youtu.be Band of Brothers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2NbEV8cFzs Talladega Nights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV40bc6yA7c Somatoform Disorders Hypochondriasis • Unrealistically interpret bodily symptoms as signs of serious illness. Excessive preoccupation with health concerns. Assume physician must be incompetent and they often become “experts” on their most feared diseases • Often their symptoms are merely normal bodily changes, such as occasional coughing, sores, or sweating – Although some patients recognize that their concerns are excessive, many do not Watch Mental Health Guru on Hypochandriasis http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UxK1rcU2gk&feature= youtu.be Hannah and Her Sisters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao7KEvXCSBM and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkIQ39538Ig&feature=rel ated Somatoform Disorders Body Dysmorphic Disorder • Preoccupation with an imagined or exaggerated defect in one’s appearance Watch Mirror Mirror http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAuc2xAM78&feature=related Etiology of Somatoform Disorders • Psychodynamic Perspective – two mechanisms are at work in the hysterical disorders: • Primary gain: hysterical symptoms keep internal conflicts out of conscious awareness • Secondary gain: hysterical symptoms further enable people to avoid unpleasant activities or to receive kindness or sympathy from others • Behavioral Perspective: – physical symptoms of hysterical disorders bring rewards to sufferers • may remove individual from an unpleasant situation • may bring attention to the individual – sick role • Cognitive Perspective: oversensitivity to bodily cues – Hysterical disorders are a form of communication, providing a means for people to express difficult emotions – Some people focus excessive attention on their internal physiological processes and amplify normal bodily sensations into symptoms of distress, which lead them to pursue medical treatment. Tend to have a faulty standard of good health, equating health with a complete absence of symptoms. Very difficult disorder to treat because sufferers jump from one medical 5 doctor to another!