Somatization Disorder

A disorder that is characterized by recurrent and multiple somatic complaints of several years duration for which medical attention has been sought but which are apparently not due to any physical disorder. Complaints invariably involve conversion or pseudoneurological symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, deafness or double vision; gastrointestinal symptoms; female reproductive symptoms; psychosexual symptoms; cardiopulmonary symptoms; pain in the back, joints, genital area or other areas; and the belief on the part of affected individuals that they have been ill a good part of their lives.