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Functional Somatic Disorder: a Post-Medical event Stress Disorder?
Mathilde Horn1, Thomas Fovet2, Cédric Lemogne3
1Univ. Lille, INSERM U1172, CHU Lille, Centre Lille Neuroscience & Cognition (INTERACTIONS), F-59000 Lille, France; CHU Lille, Pôle de Psychiatrie, F-59000 Lille, France; Centre d'Evaluation et de Recherche En Santé mentale, EPSM Flandres F-59270 Bailleul, France.
Summary
This study proposes that some functional somatic disorders (FSD) may be a form of "post-medical event stress disorder," similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This reframes FSD symptoms as stress responses to medical events, suggesting new therapeutic approaches.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Internal Medicine
Background:
- Functional somatic disorders (FSD) involve persistent physical symptoms causing distress and disability.
- Medical events often precede FSD onset, suggesting a potential trigger.
- The symptom overlap between FSD and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) warrants investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To hypothesize that a subset of FSD cases can be understood as a
- post-medical event stress disorder
- analogous to PTSD.
- To re-interpret FSD symptoms as consequences of stressful medical events.
- To propose a therapeutic framework for FSD patients based on PTSD treatment models.
Main Methods:
- Conceptual re-interpretation of FSD based on existing literature.
- Comparative analysis of FSD and PTSD psychopathology.
- Development of a novel therapeutic framework.
Main Results:
- A subset of FSD cases may be conceptualized as a stress-related disorder following medical events.
- Psychopathological processes linking stressful medical events to persistent FSD symptoms are detailed.
- A therapeutic framework integrating PTSD treatment strategies for FSD is proposed.
Conclusions:
- Viewing certain FSD cases through the lens of post-traumatic stress offers a new understanding of their etiology.
- The proposed framework suggests potential new treatment avenues for a specific FSD subgroup.
- Further research is needed to validate the proposed PTSD-like mechanism in FSD.
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