The common
characteristics of somatoform disorders include:
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Excessive usage of medical and surgical services
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Failure to be reassured by negative findings
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Doctor and hospital shopping
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Reluctance to recognize the relevance of psychological factors
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Mutual hostility between patients and their doctors.
Somatizing patients inhabit an hinterland between medicine and psychiatry. Treatment of somatoform disorders involves understanding of the influence of psychosocial factors on pathophysiologic mechanisms and behavior.
