Somatoform Disorders and Recent Diagnostic Controversies

Several classification issues regarding somatoform disorders are being debated as the process for revising the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-V) unfolds over the next 5 years. Eight key questions center around the appropriate stakeholders for DSM-V, changes in terminology, movement of certain disorders within or outside of Axis I, the validity of symptom explanation as a core criterion, the status of functional somatic syndromes, the reliance on symptom counts, the reliability of lifetime symptom recall, and the value of symptom grouping. Somatic symptom measures are reviewed, and a brief self-rated scale is described in detail.