Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 13, 2026

Rapid Fractionation and Isolation of Whole Blood Components in Samples Obtained from a Community-based Setting
Published on: November 30, 2015
Somatization of psychiatric illness in Mediterranean migrants in Belgium
1Department of Psychiatry, State University of Ghent.
Abstract:
Mediterranean migrants with acute psychiatric problems show a predominance of dramatic somatization in their symptom patterns, when compared with Belgian patients with similar psychiatric problems and admitted after identical recruiting and referral procedures. D.S.M. III diagnoses of the Mediterranean patients, however, reveal neither a correspondingly high incidence of somatoform disorders nor histrionic personalities. Adult and adolescent Mediterranean migrants appear to convey psychological problems through contrasting forms of somatization. Adolescents somatize mainly through self-inflicted symptoms, whereas adults express somatization in a more 'natural' way--insubjective bodily sensations, psychophysiological symptoms or psychosomatic syndromes. The main reason for acute psychiatric admission among Belgian adolescents is outward aggressive behaviour. In Mediterranean adolescents in Belgium it is a combination of somatization and aggression in self-inflicted physical symptoms.
Related Concept Videos
Psychosis: Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia and Other Psychotic Disorders
Researchers have identified genetic factors that increase susceptibility to schizophrenia, underscoring the intricate interplay between genetics and environment in disease development. At the core of schizophrenia's pathophysiology is excessive dopaminergic neurotransmission within the...
Schizophrenia
Positive Symptoms Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and Delusions
Hallucinations
Hallucinations in...
Psychological and Sociocultural Causes of Schizophrenia
Depressive Disorders: Etiology
Biological Factors in Depression
Biological predispositions significantly influence the risk of developing depressive disorders. Genetic studies highlight the role of variations in the serotonin transporter...
Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia: Hallucinations and Delusions
Thought Disorders
Disorganized and unusual thought processes mark thought disorders in schizophrenia. One key feature is disorganized speech, where an individual's conversation includes loosely...

