An effective approach to somatization assessment and management

Abstract

Somatization is a process in which there is inappropriate focus on physical symptoms and psychosocial problems are denied [1]. Somatization is highly prevalent in primary care where 20-30 % of patients fulfill criteria for somatoform disorders [2-4] and even more patients may present with medically unexplained symptoms of shorter duration [5]. In a general medical clinic in the USA, 84 % of presentations of common physical symptoms had no identified organic cause [5], and over half of new referrals to a Dutch medical outpatient clinic had symptoms that remained medically unexplained [6]. Despite its high prevalence, somatization often goes unrecognized [3, 7]. Somatizing patients suffer distress for a long time and seek treatment that results in disappointment because a correct diagnosis is not made by physicians. They doctor shop but cannot find a willing physician so they are called medical orphans [8]. They often make the complaint that My symptoms are genuine, but everything is coming back negative [9].