This article discusses managing somatic preoccupation in all of the somatoform disorders. You will have test questions from this article, so please study it carefully. As the example in our text shows, this disorder can occur in medically sophisticated people. While the disorder is not a conscious shirking of responsibility, it permits people to gain your attention and not perform as well as other people in the same job. Sexual and physical abuse in childhood are linked to this disorder as possible causative factors.
Pain disorder is a very difficult diagnostic call because pain is subjective.
We have to be concerned about pain disorder for two reasons. First, people with pain disorder can wind up with amazing financial rewards at your expense. Second, many of these patients find a doctor to operate on them and wind up either disabled or addicted to pain medication for life. My physical therapist had a PhD in psychology in addition to his Physical Therapy degree. He once showed me a device that he picked up in Europe that was supposed to measure pain in an objective fashion.