Elsevier

Psychosomatics

Volume 42, Issue 1, January–February 2001, Pages 63-67
Psychosomatics

Original Research Reports
Somatization: A Debilitating Syndrome in Primary Care

https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psy.42.1.63Get rights and content

Somatization is a significant problem for clinical medicine. Unlike somatization disorder, which is relatively rare, abridged somatization, a less severe form of somatization, is prevalent in primary care clinics. The authors examined the clinical status and functioning of patients diagnosed with a depression or anxiety disorder comorbid with abridged somatization and compared them with patients diagnosed with a depression or anxiety disorder alone. The authors examined severity of physical functioning and psychopathology in relation to diagnostic status. Patients diagnosed with both abridged somatization and a depression or anxiety disorder were more physically impaired and more anxious than those diagnosed with a depression or anxiety disorder alone. The results suggest that abridged somatization frequently coexists with depression and anxiety and thus complicates the presentation of these disorders.

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