Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T04:50:45.405Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Personality Disorders in Patients with Somatisation Disorder

A Controlled Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Julian Stern ,
Michael Murphy  and
Christopher Bass
Julian Stern
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ
Michael Murphy
Affiliation:
Queen Mary's University Hospital, Roehampton Lane, London SW15 5PN
Christopher Bass*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU
*
∗Correspondence
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Twenty-five women with somatisation disorder (SD) were compared with matched patient controls for the presence of personality disorders. Personality was assessed with the Personality Assessment Schedule (PAS). Interviewers were unaware of the patients' diagnoses. All controls had DSM–III–R axis I diagnoses of depressive or anxiety disorders. The prevalence of personality disorders among patients with somatisation disorder was 72% compared with 36% among controls. Certain personality disorders, including passive–dependent, histrionic, and sensitive–aggressive, occurred significantly more often in the SD patients than controls.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 163 , Issue 6 , December 1993 , pp. 785 - 789
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association (1987) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edn, revised) (DSM–III–R). Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
Bass, C. & Murphy, M. (1990) Somatization disorder: critique of the concept and suggestions for future research. In Somatization: Physical Symptoms and Psychological Illness (ed. Bass, C.). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bass, C. & Murphy, M. (1991) Somatization disorder in a British teaching hospital. British Journal of Clinical Practice, 45, 237–244.Google Scholar
Bhattacharya, D. & Bharadwaj, P. (1977) Reassessment of Perley-Guze criteria for the diagnosis of hysteria - a study based on 304 Indian patients. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 19, 38–42.Google Scholar
Bond, M. R. (1971) The relation of pain to the Eysenck Personality Inventory, Cornell Medical Index and Whiteley Index of hypochondriasis. British Journal of Psychiatry, 119, 671–678.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deighton, C. M. & Nicol, A. R. (1985) Abnormal illness behaviour in young women in a primary care setting: is Briquet's syndrome a useful category? Psychological Medicine, 15, 15–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Derogatis, L. R., Rickels, K., Ulenhuth, E. H. et al (1974) The Hopkins Symptom Checklist: A measure of primary symptom dimensions. In Psychological Measurements in Psychopharmacology: Problems in Pharmacopsychiatry (ed. Pichot, J.), pp. 79–110. Basle: Karger.Google Scholar
Escobar, J. I. & Canino, G. (1989). Unexplained physical complaints: psychopathology and epidemiological correlates. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154 (suppl. 4), 24–27.Google Scholar
Eysenck, H. J. & Eysenck, S. B. (1975) The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Foulds, G. A. (1976) The Hierarchical Nature of Personal Illness. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Guze, S. B. (1975) The validity and significance of hysteria (Briquet's syndrome). American Journal of Psychiatry, 132, 138–141.Google Scholar
Guze, S. B. & Perley, M. J. (1963) Observations on the natural history of hysteria. American Journal of Psychiatry, 119, 960–965.Google Scholar
Kaminsky, M. J. & Slavney, P. R. (1976) Methodology and personality in Briquet's syndrome: a reappraisal. American Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 85–88.Google Scholar
Kaminsky, M. J. & Slavney, P. R. (1983) Hysterical and obsessional features in patients with Briquet's syndrome (somatization disorder). Psychological Medicine, 13, 111–120.Google Scholar
Kendell, R. E. (1974). A new look at hysteria. Medicine (1st series), 1780–1783.Google Scholar
Liskow, B., Othmer, E., Penick, E. C., et al (1986) Is Briquet's syndrome a heterogeneous disorder? American Journal of Psychiatry, 143, 626–629.Google ScholarPubMed
Loranger, A. W., Hirschfeld, R. M., Sartorius, N., et al (1991) The WHO/ADAMHA international pilot study of personality disorders: background and purpose. Journal of Personality Disorders 5, 296–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morrison, J. (1989) Histrionic personality disorder in women with somatization disorder. Psychosomatics, 30, 433–437.Google Scholar
Orenstein, H. (1989) Briquet's syndrome in association with depression and panic: a reconceptualisation of Briquet's syndrome. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 334–338.Google Scholar
Perley, M. J. & Guze, S. B. (1962) Hysteria: the stability and usefulness of clinical criteria. New England Journal of Medicine, 266, 421–426.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Purtell, J. J., Robins, E. & Cohen, M. E. (1951) Observations on clinical aspects of hysteria. Journal of the American Medical Association, 146, 902–909.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Robins, L. N., Helzer, J. E., Croughan, J., et al (1981) National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule: its history, characteristics and validity. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 381–389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rost, K. M., Akins, R. N., Brown, F. W., et al (1992) The comorbidity of DSM–III–R personality disorders in somatization disorder. General Hospital Psychiatry, 14, 322–326.Google Scholar
Slavney, P. R., Teitelbaum, M. L. & Chase, G. A. (1985) Referral for medically unexplained somatic complaints: the role of histrionic traits. Psychosomatics, 26, 103–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smith, G. R. (1991) Somatization Disorder in the Medical Setting. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R., Williams, J. B. & Gibson, M. (1987) Structured Interview for DSM–III–R Personality Disorders. New York: Biometrics Research Department, NY State Psychiatric Institute.Google Scholar
Stern, J., Murphy, M. & Bass, C. (1993) Attitudes of British psychiatrists to the diagnosis of somatisation disorder: a questionnaire survey. British Journal of Psychiatry, 162, 463–466.Google Scholar
Tyrer, P. & Alexander, J. (1988) Personality assessment schedule. In Personality Disorders: Diagnosis, Management and Course (ed. Tyrer, P.) Bristol: Wright.Google Scholar
Tyrer, P., Alexander, J., Cicchetti, D., et al (1979) Reliability of a schedule for rating personality disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 163–167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tyrer, P., Strauss, J. & Cicchetti, D. (1983) Temporal reliability of personality in psychiatric patients. Psychological Medicine, 13, 393–398.Google Scholar
Tyrer, P., Casey, P. & Ferguson, B. (1988) Personality disorder and mental illness. In Personality Disorders: Diagnosis, Management and Course (ed. Tyrer, P.) Bristol: Wright.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1992) International Classification of Disease. Draft of the 10th revision. Chapter V, Mental and Behavioural Disorders. Clinical description and diagnostic guidelines. Geneva: WHO.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.