Main description:

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.

Contents:

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.