2nd February 2024

What is this?

Somatic symptom disorder is a diagnosis given when an individual focuses excessively on various bodily symptoms (physical) such as pain, muscle or body weakness, shortness of breath, feeling giddy, etc., to the extent that their day-to-day functioning is impacted. It represents their thoughts, feelings and behaviour (cognitive model) in relation to the physical symptoms. They can exist by themselves or along with a physical illness.