Somatoforme schmerzstorung: Diagnostik, atiologie, behandlung

Chronic pain symptoms of non-somatic origin are quite common in the general population, often leading to fairly high impairment of daily functioning and a high amount of health-care utilization. Until today the research into these disorders was hampered by considerable conceptual and terminological ambiguities. In the development of these disorders alexithymic character traits, impairment of defensive functioning and a certain set of biographical features, described as 'pain-proneness', including emotional rejection and physical abuse, seem to be of relevance. Regarding therapy of somatoform pain-disorders the evidence for proven effective psychotherapeutical treatments is still insufficient. Considering the aetiopathogenetic role of childhood traumata in these patients a modified form of psychodynamic psychotherapy seems necessary, to complement interventions aiming at a more efficient coping with pain.