children s health issues
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders in Children
Introduction
In somatic symptom and related disorders (formerly called somatoform disorders), children may have an exceptionally intense response to physical symptoms they have, think excessively about the symptoms, worry excessively about the symptoms, overuse medical care, and allow health concerns to become the focus of their life. There are several types of somatic symptom and related disorders. Symptoms may resemble those of a neurologic disorder (such as paralysis or loss of vision) or be vague (such as headache and nausea), or children may be obsessed with an imagined defect or be convinced that they have a serious disease. After doing tests to exclude physical disorders that could cause the symptoms, doctors base the diagnosis on symptoms. Individual and family psychotherapy, often using cognitive-behavioral techniques, can help. Symptoms and treatment of somatic symptom and related disorders are very similar to those of Overview of Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents . Somatic symptom and related disorders include the following: Functional Neurological Symptom Disorder : Factitious Disorder Imposed on Another : Factitious Disorder Imposed on Self : Illness Anxiety Disorder : Somatic Symptom Disorder : Somatic symptom and related disorders are equally common among young boys and young girls but are more common among adolescent girls than adolescent boys. (See also Overview of Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders in adults.) 