Somatoform Disorders
A Medicolegal Guide

This is an in-depth, clinically orientated review of somatoform disorders and how they present in a medico-legal setting.

Michael Trimble (Author)

9780521811088, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 February 2004

268 pages
24.4 x 17 x 1.6 cm, 0.755 kg

Review of the hardback: 'This is a superb book by a well-known expert, clearly written with an enormous amount of information packed into this slim volume. Do not be misled by the title, this is not a step-by-step how-to book, but rather a systematic review grounded in historical, theoretical, phenomenological, and philosophical scholarship. A lifetime of experience and wisdom underlie this book …' Journal of Psychosomatic Research

People with somatoform disorder (which used to be known as hysteria) present with a range of symptoms that typically last for years and can't be traced to a specific physical cause. Such symptoms may include frequent headaches; back pain; abdominal cramping and pelvic pain; pain in the joints, legs and arms; chest or abdominal pain, and gastrointestinal problems. This book is an in-depth, clinically orientated review of the somatoform disorders and related clinical presentations (such as chronic fatigue syndrome) and how they present in a medico-legal setting. It is aimed at both clinicians and lawyers who deal with injury claims where these disorders impact much more frequently than is generally recognised.

Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Historical overview
2. Classification and the somatoform disorders
3. Clinical presentations
4. Malingering
5. Memory in a medicolegal context
6. Assessment, treatment and prognosis
7. Somatoform disorders in a medicolegal context
8. Mechanisms
9. Causation and the question of consciousness
Appendix: Civil procedure rules Part 35
Index.

Subject Areas: Clinical psychology [MMJ], Psychiatry [MMH]