Unexplained symptoms

There are a wide variety of psychiatric terms for patients who have symptoms for which no organic cause can be found:

Somatisation disorder

• multiple physical SYMPTOMS present for at least 2 years
• patient refuses to accept reassurance or negative test results

Hypochondrial disorder

• persistent belief in the presence of an underlying serious DISEASE, e.g. cancer
• patient again refuses to accept reassurance or negative test results

Conversion disorder

• typically involves loss of motor or sensory function
• the patient doesn't consciously feign the symptoms (factitious disorder) or seek material gain (malingering)
• patients may be indifferent to their apparent disorder - la belle indifference - although this has not been backed up by some studies

Dissociative disorder

• dissociation is a process of 'separating off' certain memories from normal consciousness
• in contrast to conversion disorder involves psychiatric symptoms e.g. Amnesia, fugue, stupor
• dissociative identity disorder (DID) is the new term for multiple personality disorder as is the most severe form of dissociative disorder

Munchausen's syndrome

• also known as factitious disorder
• the intentional production of physical or psychological symptoms

Malingering

• fraudulent simulation or exaggeration of symptoms with the intention of financial or other gain