What is the name of a psychological disorder where symptoms are bodily in form without an identifiable medical cause, and includes Illness Anxiety Disorder and Conversion Disorder?

• A. Somatic Symptom Disorder
• B. Illness Anxiety Disorder
• C. Conversion Disorder
• D. Factitious Disorder

Answer: (A)

At the heart of this idea is a pattern where physical symptoms arise or are reported but there isn't an identifiable medical condition to explain them, and these symptoms are paired with disproportionate thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. Somatic Symptom Disorder captures this broad pattern: people have one or more distressing somatic symptoms and also show excessive anxiety, health-related behaviors, or time and energy devoted to the symptoms. Illness Anxiety Disorder, by contrast, is primarily a preoccupation with having or acquiring a serious illness, often with little or no somatic symptoms. Conversion Disorder describes a specific type of neurological symptom (such as paralysis or blindness) that cannot be explained by medical disease, reflecting a functional rather than organic origin. Factitious Disorder involves deliberately falsifying symptoms for psychological gain. Because the scenario describes bodily symptoms without a medical explanation and the condition encompasses related disorders such as illness anxiety and conversion within the same framework, the best-fitting label is Somatic Symptom Disorder.