Somatization Disorder and Childhood Trauma / 中国临床心理学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the relationship between somatization and childhood trauma. Methods: The subject was a woman suffering from somatization. The subject was interviewed for information related to medical history, resistance,transference and counter transference. The information was analyzed by using the method of the introspection, empathy, and psychoanalysis. Results: Several significant traumatic events were found in the subject's childhood, including the loss of her mother and being physically abused over a long period of time. As a result of the trauma, she suffered from fear of the separation and frequently indulged herself into excessive housework. She had serious repression, dissociation, panic attacks and other physiological stress reactions. As a grown-up, her major symptoms were somatization and panic attacks. The occurrence and aggravation of these symptoms were related to separation from family and overwork, which resemble to her early childhood experiences. The symptoms experienced were also similar to the past. Conclusion: Somatization may originate from physiological stress reactions related to physical abuse in childhood. The mechanisms of symptom formation involve repression of emotion, dissociation of the bodily reactions, secondary advantage and internalization of masochistic object relations.