Somatic symptoms in depression.

Abstract

Both painful and nonpainful somatic symptoms essentially characterize clinical states of depressive mood. So far, this well-established psychopathological knowledge has been appreciated only insufficiently by the official diagnostic systerms of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV TR) and the ICD-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioral Disorders. Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines (ICD-10). From a perspective of primary care services, this unmet diagnostic need is deplorable, as the main mode of presenting a depression is by reporting somatic symptoms. This somatic form of presentation, however, significantly contributes to low rates of recognition in primary care. A diagnostic challenge may be seen in the differentiation of a depression with prevailing somatic symptoms from anxiety, somatoform disorders, and medical conditions. When somatic symptoms, particularly painful physical conditions, accompany the already debilitating psychiatric and behavioral symptoms of depression, the course of the illness may be more severe, implying a higher risk of early relapse, chronicity, suicide, or mortality due to other natural causes, the economic burden increases considerably the functional status may be hampered heavily, and health-related quality of life may be lowered dramatically. The neurobiological underpinnings of somatic symptoms in depression may guide more promising treatment approaches.