selfmora.Find support
Bodily symptoms & health concerns · Understand your experience

Somatic symptom disorder

Living with physical symptoms can take up a great deal of your day. If this term appears in your care, you deserve an explanation that takes both your symptoms and their effect on your life seriously.

How assessment works Care & next steps
A symptom questionnaire cannot tell you the cause of your symptoms.
01 / Get a clearer picture

Your symptoms and your wider experience both matter.

In the DSM framework, somatic symptom disorder involves distressing physical symptoms alongside excessive symptom-related thoughts, feelings or behaviours. Symptoms are genuinely experienced and may occur with a diagnosed medical condition.

Not finding a medical explanation does not, by itself, establish this diagnosis. It does not mean you are inventing symptoms.

Based on American Psychiatric Association

A symptom questionnaire cannot tell you the cause of your symptoms.
A visual explanation

Care can hold more than one part of the picture.

  • Your symptoms

    What you experience and what has changed

  • Your daily life

    How symptoms and concerns affect activities

  • Your assessment

    Medical history, findings and the wider pattern

  • Your care plan

    Continuity, support and follow-up

Parallel parts of a care conversation, not a diagram of cause or a test for whether symptoms are medical. Source: American Psychiatric Association
A closer look

Real symptoms and psychological distress can need care together.

SSD can coexist with a medical illness. It is not established simply because tests do not explain a symptom, and it does not mean symptoms are deliberately produced.

Assessment considers the symptoms, associated thoughts and behaviors, distress and effects on life. Medical needs should remain part of the conversation.

  • Physical symptoms

    The symptoms and their effect deserve attention.

  • Associated distress

    Worry, time and behavior around symptoms can also need support.

  • Whole-person care

    Medical and psychological needs considered together.

Overlapping care needs, not competing explanations of whether symptoms are real.

Based on MSD Manuals · American Psychiatric Association

A closer look

Bodily distress disorder: an ICD-11 term.

Bodily distress disorder is the ICD-11 category for persistent distressing bodily symptoms accompanied by excessive attention to them. Somatic symptom disorder is a related DSM category; the criteria are not identical.

Both frameworks allow a coexisting medical condition. Neither makes lack of a medical explanation sufficient for diagnosis. The systems differ in details such as duration and how impairment and attention are specified.

If the term appears in a record, ask which framework was used and what assessment supports it. This section explains terminology; it is not a conversion tool, a second diagnosis or a PHQ-15 result.

ICD bodily distress disorder and DSM somatic symptom disorder are related concepts with differences in classification. The terms should not be converted automatically or inferred from one symptom-burden score. Ask the clinician which framework they mean and how the formulation relates to your care.

Based on Gureje and colleagues · World Psychiatry

02 / Make sense of what has changed

What may need a fuller conversation.

These are areas to describe, not a checklist that establishes SSD or rules out physical illness.

Physical symptoms

Physical symptoms and how they affect daily activities.

Health concerns

Worry about symptoms that takes up a large part of the day.

Time & energy

Time or energy devoted to symptom-related concerns.

Daily impact

Changes in symptoms, functioning or the support you need.

Based on American Psychiatric Association · MSD Manual Professional

03 / Put your experience into context

A whole-person assessment, rather than a score for cause.

A clinician considers medical history, examination, symptoms over time and the wider pattern of distress and behaviour. New or significantly changed symptoms still need appropriate medical assessment, even when SSD has been diagnosed.

PHQ-15 describes symptom burden. Its total cannot establish SSD, FND, deliberate fabrication or whether a medical condition is present. You can ask what a questionnaire adds to your assessment and how its limits will be explained.

Based on MSD Manual Professional · PHQ developers · Kroenke and colleagues

Your experience, in three prompts
  1. 1
    What has changed?

    One new or changed symptom, and when it began.

  2. 2
    What takes more effort?

    An activity affected by symptoms or worry.

  3. 3
    What is the plan?

    Who to contact about changes and when you will review care.

Make a few notes
04 / Explore your support options

Care can address symptoms and help you regain room in your day.

You and your clinician can discuss what fits your needs, preferences and health.

Based on American Psychiatric Association · MSD Manual Professional

Professional care

Regular care with a trusted professional can bring continuity and a shared plan. Talking therapy can help with symptom-related distress and coping; this does not make the symptoms imaginary.

Support in your daily life

Ask who coordinates your care, how changes will be assessed and what the next appointment will focus on. A plan should explain the purpose of further tests and the support available between visits.

Make room for what helps

Ask how ongoing care and new changes will be handled.

A consistent clinical relationship can help coordinate assessment and treatment. Ask who to contact, what follow-up is planned and how new or changed symptoms will be reassessed.

A PHQ-15 score concerns symptom burden. It cannot establish SSD, explain a medical cause or decide whether a particular symptom is safe.

Based on MSD Manuals · American Psychiatric Association

05 / Choose your next step

A little clarity. A place to start.

Explore a tool, prepare a conversation or find someone to talk to. Choose what feels useful to you.

Questionnaires you might hear about

A burden measure can support a clinical conversation; it cannot settle the cause of a symptom.

PHQ-15

Describes the burden of fifteen physical symptoms.

Patient Health Questionnaire-15

Developed in adult primary-care and obstetrics/gynaecology samples. Exact form and version matter, including how sleep and tiredness items are obtained.

What it can and cannot tell you

A low score does not dismiss symptoms. A high score does not establish SSD, a psychological cause or an absence of medical illness. A reviewed public package is not available here.

Official measure information

Based on PHQ developers · Kroenke and colleagues

Your assessment and care do not depend on completing a questionnaire. This is measure context, not a released test.

Something you can use today

Practical guideYour words

Prepare for a conversation

A few prompts to help you explain what you have noticed and what you would like help with.

  • A simple notes builder
  • Copy your notes to keep
  • No account needed

You decide how much to write and share.

Find your words
Support directorySomeone beside you

Find your next kind of support

Explore where to begin with everyday support, professional help or an urgent conversation.

  • Ways to ask for help
  • Country-specific crisis contacts
  • Support at your own pace

If you need urgent help, go straight to support.

Find support
You can start right here

Your first sentence does not need to be perfect.

Bring one example of a symptom's effect on your day and a question about your current plan. You do not need an online score before asking for an assessment.

Based on MSD Manual Professional

“I want help with these symptoms and their effect on my day. Can we discuss what has been assessed and what the next step is?”
Make it sound like you
Things you may be wondering

Your questions, with room for nuance.

You can read just the answer you need.

Do unexplained symptoms prove SSD?

No. The diagnosis requires broader assessment and can coexist with medical illness. New medical concerns still deserve appropriate review.

Based on MSD Manuals · American Psychiatric Association

Keep exploring, if you want to

Related topics.

All conditions
Bodily symptoms & health concerns

Health anxiety

Understand health-related worry, illness anxiety assessment and support. Explore health-anxiety measure context without using a score to dismiss physical symptoms.

Understand & explore Bodily symptoms & health concerns

Functional neurological disorder

Understand FND, clinical neurological assessment and possible care options. Positive clinical findings matter; a questionnaire or normal scan cannot establish the diagnosis.

Understand & explore Life & support

Physical illness & wellbeing

Explore mental-health support alongside long-term physical illness, with whole-person assessment, coordinated care and room for your priorities.

Understand & explore

Topics can overlap. These links are for reading, not a suggestion that you have another condition.

Where this information comes from.

Use this hub to learn and prepare questions. It does not diagnose you or recommend a personal treatment plan. By Selfmora editorial; sources checked . Updated .

Additional explanations and examples: sources consulted . Examples illustrate ideas; they do not assess your personal health. Your questions

Our editorial approach