8 - Identification, assessment and treatment of individual patients

Summary

This chapter provides an overview of the assessment and treatment of individual patients with bodily distress syndromes. The assessment establishes whether the patient has a diagnosis of a bodily distress disorder, either alone or in conjunction with concurrent physical or psychiatric disorders. The chapter outlines the assessments to be used when patients are referred to a specialist mental health professional for treatment of more severe bodily distress disorder. An immediate aspect of management is to commence treatment for concurrent psychiatric disorder if necessary and optimise treatment for any concurrent physical disorder. The main types of specialised psychological therapy for bodily distress disorders are cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic interpersonal therapy. The chapter describes Specialised Treatment for Severe Bodily Distress Syndromes (STreSS), a complex intervention based on a cognitive behavioural approach developed at The Research Clinic for Functional Disorders and Psychosomatics at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark.