Undifferentiated somatoform disorder

Definition

Undifferentiated somatoform disorder occurs when a person has physical complaints for more than six months that cannot be attributed to a medical condition. If there is a medical condition present, the complaints must be far more severe than can be accounted for by the presence of the medical problem.

Description

The physical complaints that are expressed by people with undifferentiated somatoform disorder are many and varied. The similarity between all physical complaints associated with undifferentiated somatoform disorder is an absence of medical evidence for the symptoms or for their severity.

The physical complaints usually begin or worsen when the patient is under stress. People with...

[The entire page is 1368 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

Lookup any word on eNotes with our dictionary. Highlight the word and press SHIFT + D for a definition, or SHIFT + T for a synonym.