title: 'Pseudoneurological' symptoms, dissociation and stress-related psychopathology in healthy young adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Somatoform dissociation is a specific form of dissociation with somatic manifestations represented in the form of 'pseudoneurological' symptoms due to disturbances or alterations of normal integrated functions of consciousness, memory or identity mainly related to trauma and other psychological stressors. With respect to the distinction between psychological and somatoform manifestations of dissociation current data suggest a hypothesis to which extent mild manifestations of 'pseudoneurological' symptoms in healthy young population may be linked to stress-related psychopathological symptoms or whether these symptoms more likely could be attributed to unexplained somatic factors.
  
  
  METHODS
  With this aim we have assessed the relationship between somatoform dissociation and stress-related psychopathology (i.e. anxiety, depression, symptoms of traumatic stress, alexithymia) in a group of 250 healthy non-psychiatric and non-clinical young adults.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results of this study show that the symptoms of somatoform dissociation are significantly linked to stress-related psychopathology.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings of this study show that the 'pseudoneurological' symptoms may be linked to stress-related psychopathological processes which indicate that also mild levels of stress may influence somatic feelings and may lead to various somatoform dissociative symptoms.
authors.affiliation: Center for Neuropsychiatric Research of Traumatic Stress & Department of Psychiatry, First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University, Ke Karlovu 11, 128 00 Prague, Czech Republic. petrbob@netscape.net
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bob
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Selesova
authors.forename: Jiri
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Raboch
authors.forename: Lubomir
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kukla
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology