Are somatoform disorders mental disorders?
PURPOSE OF REVIEW: During the last 2 years, a debate has started over whether the somatoform symptoms/medically unexplained symptoms are wrongly placed under the category of mental disorders (section F in International classification of diseases-10 and in Diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders-IV). RECENT FINDINGS: Most experts on medically unexplained symptoms agree that there is a substantial need for revision of the diagnoses of somatoform disorders. While some authors suggest moving the somatoform disorders from axis I to axis III, others suggest improving the classification of these syndromes on axis I, such as by using empirically derived criteria and by introducing psychological descriptors which justify the categorization as a mental disorder. In contrast to the situation when the last version of Diagnostic and statistical manual for mental disorders was published, new empirical data has shown some psychological and behavioural characteristics of patients with s
