Somatic Symptom Disorder Test

What is a Somatic Symptom Disorder test?

Somatic Symptom Disorder or Somatoform is a type of mental illness that causes one or more bodily symptoms, including pain. These physical symptoms cannot be explained by a medical condition, or by the direct effect of a substance, or not attributable to other mental disorders.

People with Somatic Symptom Disorder reach their physician with a lot of symptoms and mild pain. Still, no medical examination can indicate the presence of such a condition or symptom in their body. But they are not faking their pain; the distress they experience from pain and other problems they experience are real, regardless of whether a physical explanation can be found. There are few physical and mental symptoms that are associated with SSD; the Somatic Symptom Disorder test is one questionnaire that assesses the level of disorder in individuals.

Somatic symptom disorder: Things you should know about

• Somatic symptom disorder cannot be easily diagnosed in primary care set up. Usually, SSD started appearing at the adolescent stage and attains in full disorder form in the early ’30s.
  
• People with Somatic Symptom Disorder are also diagnosed with anxiety, illness, and depression.
  
• Psychiatrists alone cannot completely diagnose and treat people with SSD; they must closely work with neurologists.
  
• Moreover, diagnosis can create a lot of stress in patients; they feel unsatisfied when you are eliminating one by one what they believe they are suffering for a long time.
  
• The emphasis is on the extent to which the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to the illness are excessive or out of proportion. emphasis is on the extent to which the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to the illness are excessive or out of proportion.
  

Who is at the risk of somatic symptom disorder?

Certain factors are considered to be the possible risk factors for Somatic Symptom Disorder,

• If you are already suffering from anxiety or depression-related illness, you have a higher chance of being affected by SSD.
  
• Having a medical condition or recovering from it can possibly create these symptoms of SSD.
  
• Having a family history of a medical condition, and you are always kept in doubt whether you will inherit that is also a major risk for SSD.
  
• If you are a victim of child abuse, stressful events, or trauma in your earlier life, then the possibility is more.
  
• Having a lower level of education and socio-economic status is sometimes a reason.
  

How Somatic Symptom Disorder diagnosed?

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), published by the American Psychiatric Association, clearly gives these points in the diagnosis of somatic symptom disorder:

• When you have one or more somatic symptoms like pain or fatigue that cause serious distractions in your day to day life.
  
• When your mind is completely filled with your symptoms' thoughts, you persistently develop anxiety regarding your health condition.
  
• When you have these symptoms for a longer period of time, say 6 or more months, it is not a must to have the same set of symptoms, it may vary, but prolonged symptoms declare you might be affected by somatic symptom disorder.
  

What is the Somatic symptom disorder treatment method?

The treatment for somatic symptom disorder includes both psychotherapy and medications. The psychotherapy includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, which is considered the best-worked one in cases of SSD.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps improve the physical symptoms; they usually undergo the following steps,

• They try to examine and analyze your physical symptoms first,
• Try to reduce the stress level and teach to cope up with stress,
• Pre-occupy themselves to reduce the symptoms,
• Improve daily functioning at home, at work, in relationships, and in social situations.
  

In medications, antidepressant medication can help reduce symptoms associated with depression and pain that often occur with somatic symptom disorder.

Conclusion

No mental illness is irreversible, Somatic symptom disorder is also reversible. Proper treatment and therapy can get you out of this mental condition. But before that, you must be aware of what you are going through. There are various health care questionnaires and methods in which a mental illness can be assessed. So don’t blindly panic and stress yourself without consulting a health practitioner.

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