Includes bibliographical references and index.

Medically unexplained symptoms : a treacherous foundation for somatoform disorders? / Joel E. Dimsdale -- The somatoform disorders : 6 characters in search of an author / James L. Levenson -- Health care and utilization and poor reassurance : potential predictors of somatoform disorders / Paul R. Puri and Joel E. Dimsdale -- The relationship between somatic symptoms, health anxiety, and outcome in medical out-patients / Francis Creed -- Relevance of cognitive and behavioral factors in medically unexplained syndromes and somatoform disorders / Alexandra Martin and Winfried Rief -- Does psychological stress cause chronic pain? / Afton L. Hassett and Daniel J. Clauw -- Can neural imaging explain pain? / Stuart W.G. Derbyshire -- Inflammation at the intersection of behavior and somatic symptoms / Michael R. Irwin -- Simulated illness : the factitious disorders and malingering / Cheryl B. McCullumsmith and Charles V. Ford -- Somatoform disorders in children and adolescents / Mary Lynn Dell and John V. Campo -- Somatization in older people / Chanaka Wijeratne -- Functional somatic syndromes and somatoform disorders in special psychosomatic units : organizational aspects and evidence-based treatment / Andreas Schroder and Per Fink -- Teaching trainees about the practice of consultation-liaison psychiatry in the general hospital / Marlynn H. Wei, John Querques, and Theodore A. Stern.

"This issue is divided into sections on diagnostic issues surrounding psychosomatic disorders, diverse conceptual models, biology of psychosomatic disorders, forensic issues, and treatment. The issue covers both adult and children's psychosomatic medicine. Among the specific topics explored are, neural imaging, inflammation, disability assessments, malingering, factitious disorder, educating residents, cultural issues, pain and fatigue."--Publisher's description.