Psychosomatic process in patients with dissociative mental disorders

Abstract

Present days are characterized by increased level of various psychosomatic disorders among different populations in economically developing counties. Moreover every mental disease contains somatic symptoms and these symptoms may interfere in whole picture, change the diagnostic schedule. In case of mild disorders patient's reaction to somatic disease was mostly hysteric: exaggeration of pathological sensations, suggestibility and self-suggestibility. Whole picture of the neurosis was very colourful, dynamical, with instable pathological manifestations, intention to draw one's attention.

Transition to long-term variant of dynamics mental disorder was accompanied by concentration on the smallest somatic sensations, seeking benefit from a disease state, “flight into the illness”, nosophilia. We identified prominent increase of hypochondriac symptoms in the group of patients with long course of dissociative disorders (33.4%) as compared with the group of acute and sub-acute course of the disorder (11.4%).

In patients with long course of dissociative disorders we observed accumulation of somatic pathology, in most cases one patient suffered from different somatic diseases. Increasing of rate of hypertension (31.33%) and different dishormonal disorders (37.5%) was the most prominent.

In psychological “portrait” of the patients with psychosomatic disorders we identified the great number of combinations of pathocharacterologic traits, creating the patient's “facade”, complicating interactions and compliance with physicians and psychiatrists.

Interactions between features of mental disorders and somatic disorders, psychological stress appear to us to be rather close. Presence of the somatic process leads to chronification of the neuroses, “flight into the illness”, decrease of dependence of clinical dynamics on psychogenics.

Disclosure of interest

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.