Practicing Success

Target Exam

CUET

Subject

Psychology

Chapter

Psychological Disorders

Question:

Anima is persistently preoccupied about developing a serious illness and constantly worrying about this possibility. This is accompanied by anxiety about her health. She is overly concerned about undiagnosed disease, negative diagnostic results, does not respond to assurance by doctors, and is easily alarmed about illness such as on hearing about someone else's ill-health or some such news. Anima is suffering from which of the following disorder?

 

Options:

Illness anxiety disorder

Obsessive Behaviour

Somatic symptom disorder

obsessive-compulsive disorder

Correct Answer:

Illness anxiety disorder

Explanation:

Somatic symptom disorder involves a person having persistent body-related symptoms which may or may not be related to any serious medical condition. People with this disorder tend to be overly preoccupied with their symptoms and they continually worry about their health and make frequent visits to doctors. As a result, they experience significant distress and disturbances in their daily life.

Illness anxiety disorder involves persistent preoccupation about developing a serious illness and constantly worrying about this possibility. This is accompanied by anxiety about one’s health. Individuals with illness anxiety disorder are overly concerned about undiagnosed disease, negative diagnostic results, do not respond to assurance by doctors, and are easily alarmed about illness such as on hearing about someone else's ill-health or some such news.

In general, both somatic symptom disorder and illness anxiety disorder are concerned with medical illnesses. But, the difference lies in the way this concern is expressed. In the case of somatic symptom disorder, this expression is in terms of physical complaints while in case of illness anxiety disorder, as the name suggests, it is the anxiety which is the main concern.