Self-Reported Symptoms Related to Depression and Suicidal Risk

Abstract

Depression is often accompanied by a wide variety of somatic symptoms even when there is no evidence of any organic disorder that can cause such symptoms. Though the underlying mechanism still remains unclear, there are two assumptions explaining the associations between somatic symptoms and depression. One is that depression itself causes several somatic symptoms. That is, people with depression may express their mental conflicts in various somatic symptoms. This hypothesis could apply especially to those who have a vague feeling of stigma or prejudice against mental disorders, and who are reluctant to frankly express their mental symptoms. From another point of view, this might mean that some chronic somatic symptoms are magnified due to the person’s depressive state. Another possible hypothesis is that those who have had chronic somatic symptoms of unknown origin, in other words, functional somatic symptoms, are likely to be depressed since they cannot always receive effective medical treatment for such symptoms.