Medically Unexplained Symptoms: A Treacherous Foundation for Somatoform Disorders?

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) provide a shaky foundation for the diagnosis of psychosomatic disorders. While MUS may be a key constituent of disorders such as conversion, such symptoms are better viewed as an accompanying feature rather than the basis of diagnosis. Medically unexplained can also be viewed as medically ignored, medically unexamined, or medically misunderstood. Reliability of this assessment is problematic. More importantly, features such as preoccupations about illness may provide a more sound basis for understanding and treating psychosomatic disorders.