1. Somatic Symptom Disorders and Dissociative Disorders

2. 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

3. 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

4. Conversion Disorder

5. 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

6. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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.

11. 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.

12. Dissociative Disorders
Chris Costner Sizemore

13. 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?

14. 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.

15. 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.

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