Somatization Disorder

Past, Present, and Future

Dinwiddie, Stephen H. MD

Stephen H. Dinwiddie, MD, is Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Address correspondence to: Stephen H. Dinwiddie, MD, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 446 E. Ontario Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611; email: [email protected].

Disclosure: The author has no relevant financial relationships to disclose.

Psychiatric Annals 43(2):p 78-83, February 01, 2013. | DOI: 10.3928/00485713-20130205-07

CME Educational Objectives

Understand the conceptual development of somatization disorder.
Differentiate between “somatization” as a psychological process from characteristics of patients who repeatedly and differentially present with medically unexplained symptoms.
Become familiar with principles of treatment of the individual with somatization disorder.

Patients with somatoform disorders have long been known to disproportionately access medical care, with resultant increase in treatment costs and risk of iatrogenic complications of treatment.