Hi - first off, I'll start with a little disclaimer - the information
below is provided based upon research using text available on the
internet - it is not a medical diagnosis and should not be used as
such - consultation with a licenced health-care provider should be
sought for diagnosis and treatment.
I'll start with the latter part of the question first - somatization
disorder and conversion reactions - and then explain their relation to
pseudopregnancy.
Somatization disorder:
Somatization disorder is a condition recognized by the American
Psychiatric society and is described in their publication, the DSMIV
(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American
Psychiatric Association, Fourth Edition). This disorder is
characterized by multiple somatic (symptoms having to do with the
body) complaints which are not explained by underlying organic
(physical, or medical) disease.
The symptoms that the person exhibits must include multiple sites of
unexplained pain (defined as at least four), two gastrointestinal
problems (eg nausea, vomitting, bloating, diarrhea, sexual problems
other than pain (impotence, indifference, irregular or difficult
menses), and one pseduoneurological symptom (pain, weakness,
difficulty swallowing, blindness, hallucinations, etc).
Criteria summarized in PsychCentral
http://psychcentral.com/disorders/sx94.htm
A good description of the disorder and it's history
http://www.cfsdoc.org/HxSD.htm
A good page from the Merck manual
http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section15/chapter186/186b.htm
Conversion reaction:
Conversion reaction is a somatoform disorder defined by the
psychiatric community and present in the DSMIV (Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric
Association, Fourth Edition - the big bible of the psychiatric
community). Basically, conversion disorder is the manifestation of
physical symptoms (usually involving function of nerves)without an
underlying physical cause - the symptoms are just as real to the
patient as if caused by a physical disease or state of health.
Important points are that the symptoms relate to motor or sensory
function (ie weakness, numbness, tingling, pain), the symptoms are not
intentionally created by the person, the symptoms cause significant
impairment in the person's life, the symptoms are not caused by
medical factors or medications, and the symptoms may be worsened by
other stressful events in the person's life.
Psychiatric and/or psychologic help is generally indicated for the
person to learn the cause of their reaction and to help them cope with
the underlying psychologic cause.
Good, written for doc's page (from eMedicine)
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic112.htm
So-so page from the World Health Organization
http://www.psychiatry.ox.ac.uk/cebmh/whoguidemhpcuk/disorders/f44.html
Good, non-medically directed description from the Merck manual
http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section15/chapter186/186c.htm
Nice page from IntelliHealth
http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/8271/25759/349402.html?d=dmtHealthAZ
Pseudopregnancy:
Pseudopregnancy (pseudocyesis, "false pregnancy") is a condition in
which a woman experiences many of the symptoms of pregnancy (missed
menses, morning nausea, breast tenderness, enlarged abdomen, imagined
fetal movements) without actually being pregnant. By definition,
pseudopregnancy is not a component of either somatization disorder or
conversion disorder. It is defined in the DSM-IV as a somatoform
disorder (psychologic disorder associated with physical symptoms) not
otherwise specified (abbreviated 'nos') which means that it is in a
category by itself.
It appears to be thought that pseudocyesis is caused by a strong
desire to have a child and is most common in cultures which put
tremendous importance on the raising of children. Pseudopregnancy can
be distinguished from actual pregnancy on the basis of hCG (human
chorionic gonadotropin) testing - this is the basis of pregnancy
tests, home and otherwise; additional testing by a doctor (including
ultrasound, fetal heart tone monitoring) will also distinguish the
two. Medical causes of pseudocyesis exist and can result from
hormonal imbalances due to medications, tumors, other medical
conditions which affect hormone levels.
Treatment for pseudocyesis, once medical causes of the condition are
addressed, focuses on reversing the symptoms of pregnancy through
hormone therapy and addressing the underlysing psychological origin of
the person's belief that she is pregnant.
A really good page written educate nurses:
http://www.myfreece.com/Public/Course_Take.asp?CourseId=143
A brief description on Babymed.com
http://www.babymed.com/docs/english/696.asp
A similar definition from Slider.com
http://www.slider.com/enc/43000/pseudocyesis.htm
A fun page in which "false pregnancy" in men is described:
http://www.science-frontiers.com/sf032/sf032p21.htm
A long article in which pseudopregnancy and historical cases are
described (best to search the page for "false pregnancy" to get to the
right bits)
http://www.arthursmithphd.com/chapter7.htm
Suggested search terms:
pseudocyesis, conversion disorder, somatization disorder
I hope that this substantially answers your question.
synarchy-ga |
