Health ministry of republic of moldova the university of medicine and pharmacy nicolae testemiţanu

Psychosomatic or somatoform disorder,
also known as Briquet's 
syndrome (named after Paul Briquet), or Brissaud–Marie syndrome (na-
med after Édouard Brissaud and Pierre Marie), is a mental disorder cha-
racterized by physical symptoms that mimic physical disease or injury 
for which there is no identifiable physical cause.
The symptoms that result from a somatoform disorder are due to 
mental factors. 
In people who have somatoform disorder, medical test 
results are either normal or don't explain the person's symptoms.
People 
who have this disorder may undergo several medical evaluations and 
tests to be sure that they do not have an illness related to a physical 
cause or central lesion. 
Patients with this disorder often become very 
worried about their health because the doctors are unable to find a 
cause for their health problems.
Their symptoms are similar to the 
symptoms of other illnesses and may last for several years. 
A diagnosis of a somatoform disorder implies that mental factors 
are a large contributor to the symptoms' onset, severity and duration. So-
matoform disorders are not the result of conscious malingering or facti-
ous disorders. 
By studying the causes of psychosomatic diseases appearing,
 
Sig-
mund Freud introduced the idea that 
unconscious 
thoughts can be con-
verted into physical symptoms 
(conversion reaction).
The formal study of psychosomatic illnesses began in Europe in the 
1920s. The journal 
Psychosomatic Medicine
had been founded in the 
United States. Eventually, sophisticated laboratory experiments replaced 

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clinical observation as the primary method of studying psychosomatic 
illness. Researchers in the field of psychophysiology measured such 
responses as blood pressure, heart rate, and skin temperature to 
determine the physiological effects of human behavior. Animal’s 
researches have also contributed to the growing body of knowledge 
about psychosomatic disorders.
Three theories have been particularly popular in explaining why 
certain persons develop psychosomatic disorders and what determines 
the forms these illnesses take. 
- One theory contends that 
psychological stress
affects bodily 
organs that are constitutionally weak or weakened by stress.
- Another theory links specific types of illness with particular types 
of stress. 
- The third theory suggests that physiological predispositions com-
bined with psychological stress produce psychosomatic illness. 
The parts of the body most commonly affected by psychosomatic 
disorders are 
the gastrointestinal