Psychiatriform disorders: psychiatric analogues of somatoform disorders.

BACKGROUND: Somatoform disorders can be understood to mimic supposedly more 'legitimate' physical disorders. To the extent that mental disorders are now also often considered legitimate, might clinicians expect to encounter the psychiatric equivalent of somatoform disorders, 'psychiatriform disorders'?

METHOD: The relevant literature on somatoform disorders is reviewed in light of the tendency for mental and physical symptoms to co-occur.

DISCUSSION: Illness attribution and behaviour may explain some of the recent rise in the prevalence of mental disorder. Hypotheses regarding the cause and nature of somatoform disorders are applied to their proposed psychiatric equivalent. Despite lack of current recognition, there is a strong theoretical basis for the existence of psychiatriform disorders. Psychiatriform disorders can be expected to have similar causes, comorbidity, and response to treatment, as somatoform disorders. A variety of cultural forces may be contributing to a rise in prevalence.

CONCLUSION: As with somatoform disorders, psychiatriform disorders present problems in their distinction from conscious fabrication and from the ;legitimate' disorders they mimic. Given their likely prevalence and associated impairments, psychiatriform disorders warrant further examination, despite the methodological difficulties this presents.