Find over 25,000 psychological definitions


somatic symptom and related disorders

in DSM–5, a new diagnostic category that includes disorders predominantly characterized by the presence of bodily symptoms associated with severe distress and impairment. The group includes somatic symptom disorder, illness anxiety disorder, conversion disorder, psychological factors affecting other medical conditions (e.g., denial of medical symptoms, poor adherence to treatment), and factitious disorder. The category replaces DSM–IV–TR’s somatoform disorders as a classification scheme and eliminates somatoform disorders such as hypochondriasis, pain disorder, and somatization disorder, although some of their symptom characteristics do inform the conceptualization of disorders in the new collection.

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

January 20th 2025

historicism

historicism

n.

1. the belief that the study of history can reveal general laws governing historical events and social and cultural phenomena and that these laws may allow for predictions of the future.

2. the notion that beliefs, values, and cultural products are determined by their historical context and can only be understood in this context.