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Attitudes of British Psychiatrists to the Diagnosis of Somatisation Disorder

A Questionnaire Survey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Julian Stern ,
Michael Murphy  and
Christopher Bass
Julian Stern*
Affiliation:
Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AZ
Michael Murphy
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5, Queen Mary's University Hospital, London SW15 5PN
Christopher Bass
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford OX3 9DU
*
∗Correspondence
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Abstract

A postal questionnaire was sent to 195 senior British psychiatrists who were asked about their attitudes towards the DSM-III-R diagnosis of somatisation disorder (SD) and the ICD-10 diagnosis of multiple somatisation disorder. Of the 148 respondents, 98 (66%) had experience of liaison psychiatry, and these psychiatrists used the diagnosis significantly more often than those without liaison sessions. More than half the respondents perceived SD as both a personality disorder and a mental state disorder, although 27% thought that patients with SD had an undiagnosed physical disease. The marked discrepancy between British and North American psychiatrists in diagnostic practices was perceived to be a consequence of both the difference in health care systems and the interest shown in the disorder by North American psychiatrists, rather than a reflection of genuine differences in prevalence.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 162 , Issue 4 , April 1993 , pp. 463 - 466
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1993 

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