The cognitive behavioural model of medically unexplained symptoms: A theoretical and empirical review

Multisensory distortions of the hand have differential effects on tactile perception

“…This finding is in agreement with clinical models of medically unexplained symptoms that have suggested increased body focused attention to increase awareness of benign internal bodily sensations (Rief & Barsky 2005;Deary, Chalder, & Sharpe, 2007;Rief & Broadbent, 2007) that could be confused with the SSDT vibration (Mirams et al, 2010). Our findings therefore suggest that such an effect can be modulated by manipulating the visual appearance of the hand through multisensory illusions.…”

“…During the detached condition tactile attention may have been focused on the tip of the finger that appeared to be disconnected from the rest of the body rather than on whole finger more generally. This would have limited the influence from distracting internal bodily sensations (such as internal pulse sensations) as body focused attention has been shown to increase awareness of internal bodily sensations (Rief & Barsky 2005;Deary, Chalder, & Sharpe, 2007;Rief & Broadbent, 2007), which in the other conditions could be confused with the SSDT vibration. This may have had the effect of reducing tactile 'noise' and the ambiguity of the tactile signal in the detached condition, especially during vibration absent trials.…”

Somatoform disorders and causal attributions in patients with suspected allergies: Do somatic causal attributions matter?

“…It may be argued that the categorisation of attributions according to the dualistic psychosocial-somatic divide is problematic (Deary et al, 2007), all the more considering current efforts to get away from the mind-body dichotomy inherent in the prevailing SFD classification. However, this categorisation allowed for the comparison of the qualitative and quantitative measures used in this study, the comparison with previous studies, and for addressing our main research questions.…”

A taxonomy of explanations in a general practitioner clinic for patients with persistent “medically unexplained” physical symptoms

“…-unexplained , developments in neuroscience and other disciplines mean it is now possible to explain many symptoms using models which integrate biological, psychological and social processes [6,9,10]. These models are increasingly similar to those used to describe chronic pain, with processes such as central sensitization originally worked out for painnow being applied to other symptoms [11].…”

“…dizziness), in syndrome clusters (e.g. fibromyalgia), or in combination [6]. Most symptoms are transient, but approximately 2% of adults experience persistent or recurrent symptoms which are associated with increased primary care consulting and referral to secondary care [7,8].…”