Letter to the Editor
The somatic symptom disorder in DSM 5 risks mislabelling people with major medical diseases as mentally ill

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2013.09.005Get rights and content

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Cited by (21)

  • General practitioners' views on the diagnostic innovations in DSM-5 somatic symptom disorder - A focus group study

    2019, Journal of Psychosomatic Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    However, a consequence of the introduction of SSD is that even patients with a severe physical disease can obtain the diagnosis and clinicians may have a tendency to overdiagnose this patient population [11,12]. Moreover, for severe medical conditions, it remains unclear how to evaluate the appropriateness of the patients' symptom-related cognitions, emotions, and behaviour as captured in the B criteria of the diagnosis [13]. Consequently, the literature also yields recommendations for practitioners to avoid the new diagnosis [11].

  • Comparing the diagnostic concepts of ICD-10 somatoform disorders and DSM-5 somatic symptom disorders in patients from a psychosomatic outpatient clinic

    2018, Journal of Psychosomatic Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    At the same time, patients with severe mental illness such as depression, who also suffer from physical complaints associated with their mental disorder, might now receive an additional diagnosis of somatic symptom disorder and thus specific attention and tailored interventions to their individual needs. However, the psychological criteria chosen for the classification of somatic symptom disorder have been subject to debate, and it remains questionable whether the basic mechanisms of the various conditions which are now lumped into one diagnostic category are really comparable [12, 34, 35]. Several studies showed that somatic symptom disorder proved better construct validity and enhanced clinical utility than DSM-IV somatoform disorders, while remission was lower and persistence rates higher after 12 months.

  • Clinical value of DSM IV and DSM 5 criteria for diagnosing the most prevalent somatoform disorders in patients with medically unexplained physical symptoms (MUPS)

    2016, Journal of Psychosomatic Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    As a result, we think that the addition of positive psychological symptoms as diagnostic criteria for DSM 5 SSD improves clinical value. Although several researchers in the field have stressed that the DSM 5 criteria would be even more inclusive than DSM IV criteria [39,40], the results of our study point out otherwise. In contrary, our results may even lead to concern about under-inclusiveness of DSM 5 SSD criteria.

  • Somatic symptoms and psychological concerns in a general adolescent population: Exploring the relevance of DSM-5 somatic symptom disorder

    2015, Journal of Psychosomatic Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    As the diagnosis no longer excludes patients with a somatic disease, it is argued that many people with medical conditions will now be mislabeled as mentally ill [13]. Due also to depending on the presence of only a single somatic symptom [14,15], it is further contended that the new criteria will lead to unrealistic estimates of psychiatric prevalence rates [16]. At present, the prevalence of adult SSD is not known, but is thought to be around 5%–7% [9].

  • Construct validity and clinical utility of current research criteria of DSM-5 somatic symptom disorder diagnosis in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome

    2015, Journal of Psychosomatic Research
    Citation Excerpt :

    The following five criteria have been suggested for possible inclusion of a new category into DSM: Adequate literature, specified diagnostic criteria, acceptable interclinician reliability, evidence that the criteria form a syndrome, and differentiation from other categories [51]. More studies with patients with somatic diseases and functional somatic syndromes are necessary to test if current or modified research criteria of SSD will meet these criteria or not [12,42,52] and if the diagnostic category is useful in clinical practice or not. Winfried Häuser is a member of the medical board of the German Fibromyalgia Association.

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