Somatoform disorder is a condition in which a person experiences real, distressing physical symptoms that cannot be fully explained by a medical disease or injury. What is somatic symptom disorder? A person with somatic symptom disorder has one or more somatic (physical) symptoms over a long period of time (usually half a year or more). Somatoform disorders involve physical symptoms that can’t be explained by medical conditions, often believed to be linked to emotional or psychological distress. Somatoform disorders involve physical symptoms suggesting illness or injury that any medical condition cannot fully explain. Symptoms are real and cause significant distress or impairment, but psychological factors like stress or trauma are likely involved in their manifestation. Somatic symptom disorder (SSD) is a mental disorder characterized by an excessive focus on physical symptoms—such as pain or shortness of breath —that cause significant distress or impairment. Individuals with SSD experience disproportionate thoughts, emotions, and behaviors related to their symptoms. Somatic symptom disorder involves focusing too much on physical symptoms such as pain or tiredness. This focus causes major emotional distress and makes it hard to function. Historically labeled as “psychosomatic” or “somatoform disorders,” the DSM-5 reframed this group of conditions to focus less on whether symptoms can be medically explained and more on how individuals experience and interpret them. Somatic symptom disorder is diagnosed when a person has a significant focus on physical symptoms, such as pain, weakness or shortness of breath, to a level that results in major distress and/or problems functioning. WebMD explains the symptoms and treatment of a somatoform disorder -- a mental disorder in which patients experience pain that can't be traced to any physical cause. Somatisation means that physical symptoms are caused by biological, social, or psychological factors, not a specific disease. These symptoms, like pain or fatigue, can also be caused by medical conditions. Functional disorders are more complex and persistent forms of somatisation.