Describe the major manifestations of somatoform disorders.
List the primary presenting symptoms of somatization disorder and hypochondriasis and note the similarities of and differences between these closely related disorders.
Explain what is meant by a pain disorder. Discuss the difficulties of determining that pain is of psychological rather than of physical origin and of reliably assessing an entirely subjective phenomenon.
Characterize the symptoms of conversion disorder, trace the history of the concept of “conversion,” and describe the likely cause and chain of events in the development of a conversion disorder.
Discuss the etiological contributions of biological, psychosocial, and sociocultural factors to the somatoform disorders.
Compare and contrast the treatments for the somatoform disorders. What is known regarding their effectiveness, as compared to no treatment at all?
Compare the major features of dissociative amnesia and fugue, dissociative identity disorder, and depersonalization disorder.
Discuss the causal factors that contribute to the dissociative disorders, and note the critical difficulty caused by the fallibility of memory in determining the contribution of childhood abuse to these disorders.
Describe the most appropriate treatments for the dissociative disorders, as well as the limitations of biological and psychological treatments.
Describe the issues related to DID and recovered memories.
