Somatization Disorders

Somatization is defined as an occurrence of physical symptoms without any bodily disease or injury being present.(31). In other words, depression or social problems can cause someone to have pain without being able to detect any illness. According to Health & Wellness, it is estimated that 25% to 75% of all patients who visit primary care physicians suffer from this disorder. Also, according to Medlineplus, some symptoms of this disease can be chest pain, diarrhea,headaches and more. The list of symptoms is unbelievable.
I found a post written by Linda Schram who is on my team for the module two student seminar and found something I didn't know. Linda wrote;"According to The Merck's Manuals online medical library, it often runs in families but mostly in the females. Well at least I can now justify the children following in their mother's footsteps". I found it very interesting that this disorder could very much hereidiatary. But even more interesting is that it is more prevalent in women. Why is that so? Are we as women not able to control our feelings and become so depressed that we cause ourselves to become ill? Well according to StateMaster, somatization disorders is twice as prevalant in women than it is in men.
I definitely learned a lot about somatization through the textbook, online dicussions, and many website articles. I have come to understand a disease that I have never heard of before. I always like to learn something new!


I would like to comment on my participation. I did feel as if I didn't put in enough effort when it came to the Student Seminar. I wrote and posted without really going over the tips as to how to get a good grade. When the next module comes around, I will make sure to take more time when posting and put more effort into it. I will read the textbook more then once and also do some research on my own.

Four new words that I learned about in chapters one and two are:
1) Somatization Disease- Occurance of physical symptoms that occur without any bodily disease or injury being present.
2) Phsychosomatic Illness- Physical illnesses brought on by negative mental states such as stress or emotional upset.
3) Autogenic Training- The use of autosuggestion to establish a balance between the mind and body through changes in the autonomic nervous system.
4) Holistic Model- Encompasses the physiological, mental, emotional, social, spiritual, and enviromental aspects of health.

These four words helped me to understand different illnesses and ways to help treat them. I learned something new that I never knew of before. I actually really enjoyed researching these topics on my own to learn more and more about it.