Victimology

• Somatoform Disorder


  A mental disorder characterized by physical symptoms that mimic physical disease or injury for which there is no identifiable physical cause
• Six Major Types of Somatoform Disorder

  • Conversion Disorder (Hysteria)
  • Hypochondriasis
  • Somatization Disorder
  • Pain Disorder
  • Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)
  • Undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder
• Conversion Disorder (Hysteria)


  • Patients display neurological symptoms such as numbness, paralysis, or fits, even though no neurological explanation is found and it is determined that the symptoms are due to the patient's psychological response to stress
  • Symptoms include sensory symptoms, motor symptoms, and visceral symptoms
• Hypochondriasis


  A somatoform disorder in which persons are preoccupied with their health and are convinced that they have some serious disorder despite reassurance from doctors to the contrary
• Somatization Disorder


  Also called Briquets disorder. A psychiatric diagnosis applied to patients who chronically and persistently complain of varied physical symptoms that have no identifiable physical origin
• Pain Disorder


  When a patient experiences chronic pain in one or more areas, and is thought to be caused by psychological stress
• Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD)


  A somatoform disorder in which the affected person is excessively concerned about and preoccupied by a perceived defect in his or her physical features (body image)
• Undifferentiated Somatoform Disorder

  Only one unexplained symptom is required for at least 6 months
• Factitious Disorder


  A pattern of behavior centered on the exaggeration or outright falsifications of one's own health problems or the health problems of others
• Malingering


  Making false claims out of a motivation for personal gain, not a mental illness
• Somatization Disorder

  Linked to antisocial personality and alcoholism
• Dissociative Disorder


  Disorders in which, under stress, one loses the integration of consciousness, identity, and memories of important personal events
• Four Varieties of Dissociative Disorder

  • Psychogenic Amnesia
  • Psychogenic Fugue
  • Multiple Personality Disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder)
  • Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder
• Psychogenic Amnesia


  Temporary or permanent loss of a part or all of the memory due to extreme psychosocial stress
• Psychogenic Fugue


  Generalized amnesia with a flight from family, problem, or location
• Multiple Personality Disorder (Dissociative Identity Disorder)


  The occurrence of two or more personalities within the same individual, each of which during sometime in the person's life is able to take control
• Depersonalization/Derealization Disorder


  The continued presence of feelings that the person is not himself/herself or that he/she can't control his/her own actions
• Sub-categories of psychogenic amnesia

  • Localized amnesia
  • Selective amnesia
  • Generalized and continuous amnesia
• Localized amnesia


  • Inability to recall the details of a particular traumatic event
  • Most common type of psychogenic amnesia
• Selective amnesia


  • Ability to remember certain general occurrences of a traumatic situation, but not the specific parts
• Generalized and continuous amnesia


  • Forgetting the details of one's entire lifetime
  • Inability to recall details prior to a certain point in time, including the present