The Psychopathology of Functional Somatic Syndromes

About this book

"This book examines the link between mental illness and physical syndromes that lack organic disease explanations, including chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, premenstrual dysphoria, irritable bowel, and Gulf War illness." "The author has evaluated the best research work of the past twenty years to determine the association between psychopathology and functional illness, the biological gradient between somatic and psychological symptoms, and the manifestations of dysfunctional coping." "The Psychopathology of Functional Somatic Syndromes challenges recent conceptualizations of functional somatic syndromes as brain disorders connected to affective spectrum disorder, serotonin deficiency, cerebral hypoperfusion, or abnormal hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal functional and highlights the importance of abnormal illness behavior, sexual victimization, and maladaptive coping for the production and maintenance of these disorders."--BOOK JACKET.