Somatic Symptom Disorders and Dissociative Disorders

Somatic Symptom Disorders Used to be called Somatoform Somatic = body Somatic symptoms = symptoms involving the body Somatic symptom disorders = disorders that take the form of bodily illnesses and symptoms but are due to psychological rather than medical conditions

Somatic Symptom Disorders Conversion Disorder Anxiety is converted into a physical symptom Neurological problems Gastrointestinal problems Pain or numbness Ulcers Headaches Diarrhea Sexual problems Paralysis IBS Blindness

Conversion Disorder

Somatic Symptom Disorders Illness Anxiety Disorder (hypochondriasis) Normal sensations interpreted as a dreaded disease Headache = Brain tumor Cough = Lung cancer No amount of reassurance convinces the patient

Causes of Somatic System Disorders Psychoanalytic explanations of somatoform disorders assume that anxiety is turned into a physical symptom. Behavioral explanations point to the negative reinforcement experienced when the “ill” person escapes unpleasant situations such as combat. Cognitive explanations assume that people magnify their physical symptoms and normal bodily changes into ailments out of irrational fear.

Dissociative Disorders Dissociative disorders - disorders in which there is a break in conscious awareness, memory, the sense of identity, or some combination. Some dissociation is not that rare: Bilingual Playing a guitar while talking to someone Driving somewhere and not remembering the drive itself because of thinking about something else.

Dissociative Disorders Dissociative amnesia - loss of memory for personal information, either partial or complete. Dissociative fugue - traveling away from familiar surroundings with amnesia for the trip and possible amnesia for personal information.

Dissociative Disorders Dissociative identity disorder (DID) (Multiple Personality Disorder) disorder occurring when a person seems to have two or more distinct personalities within one body.

Dissociative Disorders Chris Costner Sizemore

Dissociative Identity Disorder Genuine disorder or not? DID rates Rates increased in 1980’s North America, after the movie “Sybil” was released, but not elsewhere Therapist’s creation?

Development of Dissociative Disorders Psychoanalytic explanations point to repression of memories, seeing dissociation as a defense mechanism against anxiety. Cognitive and behavioral explanations see dissociative disorders as a kind of avoidance learning.

Development of Dissociative Disorders Biological explanations point to lower than normal activity levels in the areas responsible for body awareness in people with dissociative disorders.

Assignment Psychology-2: 32.2 & 32.5 Questions Pages 422 - 430 AP Psychology: 68 – 69a Questions