Author: Caoimhe Mcloughlin. Stigma in persistent somatic symptoms and functional disorders (PSS/FD) has been around for centuries. In earlier times, individuals with these symptoms were accused of moral failure or spiritual possession – much like other conditions that seemed hard to understand, such as epilepsy or tuberculosis. In more recent times, individuals with functional symptoms […]
The journey of designing an interactive online tool to help understand Functional Somatic Symptoms through patient and public involvement
Author: Lina Münker. People with FSS frequently struggle to find reasonable explanations for their symptoms. This is potentially due to the complexity of FSS development, suggested to involve a variety of underlying multifaceted interactions from biological, psychological and social domains of functioning, and as well as the various presentations both within and across people. In […]
What are the major factors influencing persistent somatic symptoms, and what does this mean for future care provision?
Author: Nick Mamo. Persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) are surprisingly common – as much as 33% of individuals in primary care, and 53% in specialty clinics experience PSS. The care trajectory for these individuals with PSS can be complex, and outcomes can be quite poor. It is becoming increasingly evident that a big part of the […]
Bodily Distress Syndrome (BDS) as a new research concept for adolescents with functional somatic symptoms
Author: Elske Hogendoorn. Functional somatic symptoms are physical symptoms that cannot be fully attributed to a biomedical cause and may arise in the absence or presence of a chronic medical disease. Persistent functional somatic symptoms occur in various medical domains and are given a variety of diagnostic classifications, such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome or […]