Primary Care Reports – February 1, 2023
February 1, 2023
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Approach and Treatment of Patients with Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, nomenclature and diagnostic criteria deemphasize “medically unexplained symptoms” and instead focuses on the presence of unexpected, magnified, or disproportionate physical symptoms, with or without an underlying known medical condition. Given that symptoms are physical in nature, patients with somatic disorders are more likely to present to a primary medical provider than to a mental health provider. Thus, developing a better understanding of this often-perplexing condition has clinical relevance for clinicians on the front lines of medical care.