What are Somatic Symptoms and Related Disorders: Somatic Pain?

There are many ways that people feel pain. Some pain is caused by injuries, some by illnesses, and some by the complicated ways that the body and mind work together. Somatic symptoms and their related disorders are classified as separate group. They show that emotional pain can make you feel real pain, even when doctors can’t find a clear medical reason for it. The most common sign of these diseases is somatic pain, which can affect muscles, joints, or even organs inside the body.

What are the Somatic Symptoms and Related Disorders?

Somatic symptoms and related disorders are physical problems that can’t be fully explained by a medical condition. Somatic pain can happen in different parts of the body, like the back, neck, or stomach. This pain often doesn’t go away even when medical tests come back normal. This isn’t “pain that isn’t real.” The pain is real, but it’s because of how the brain works with information from the body.

According to DSM-5, or Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, this illness is a somatic disorder. There are some disorder included in this category of disorders:

• Somatic Symptom Disorder
• Illness Anxiety Disorder
• Conversion Disorder
• Factious Disorder

These are some of the disorders that fall under this category. A lot of the time, people with these issues call their doctors for help. They may have a history of going to the doctor over and over again for headaches, muscle pain, or tiredness that never goes away.

What is Somatic Pain?

Somatic pain is pain that comes from the body’s tissues, not from the brain or nerves. It usually starts in the skin, muscles, joints, bones, or connective tissues. Doctors use the terms “superficial somatic pain” and “profound somatic pain” to describe the pain in different parts of the body.

1. Superficial Somatic Pain:

This pain starts from the mucous of membrane or in the skin. Individual feel pain like small cuts. It burns, stings and throbs.

2. Profound Somatic Pain:

This is type of deep pain comes from bones, tendons, muscles and ligaments. This pain hurts and is hard to find. This pain is mostly fond in individual with stress either physical or mental.

What is the difference between Visceral Pain and Somatic Pain?

Don’t confuse visceral pain with somatic pain. The difference between thee both is:

Visceral Pain:

Visceral pain comes from organs inside the body, like the stomach, heart, or intestines. People often say that visceral pain feels deep, like it’s squeezing or cramping. People with visceral pain may also feel sick, sweat, or have their blood pressure change.

Somatic Pain:

Somatic pain comes from the body’s outer layers and muscles. For example, if you feel tightness in your chest when you’re stressed out, it could be a sign of heart disease, but it could also be somatic pain from strained muscles.

Doctors can rule out serious diseases and better treat mental health issues that are causing problems by knowing this difference.

How to Treat Somatic Symptoms and Related Disorders?

Treatment helps both the mind and the body. It tries to make life easier and less painful.

1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy:

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) teaches people how their thoughts, feelings, and physical experiences are all linked. People who learn how to deal with their anxiety and change the way they think about things often say they feel less pain and have a better quality of life.

2. Exercises:

Gentle exercises, stretching, and strengthening programs in physical therapy can help ease pain in the joints and muscles. Physical therapy also helps you move around more easily and makes your muscles less stiff.

3. Medication:

Doctors may give you antidepressants or drugs that help with anxiety. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and other over-the-counter drugs can help for a short time, but you shouldn’t use them for a long time.

In the short term, muscle relaxants, stress management, and physical therapy can all help with muscle spasms and tension. You can feel less pain if you change your habits, like working out regularly, eating well, and doing mindfulness activities like yoga or deep breathing. Getting enough sleep is also important for treating somatic symptoms disorders.

What is Role of Education and Social Support?

Patients and their families need to learn a lot. It helps to reduce stigma when you know that somatic pain isn’t “all in the head.” Family members can help by understanding your pain and suggesting healthy ways to deal with it. You can talk with other people around you who are going through same pain. They can help you to find a better solution and support.

To treat mental health issue individual and mental health professionals need to cordiante with each other. Individual can express feelings, tell pains and emotional stress if good relationship is developed between mental health professional and patient.