The new somatic symptom disorder in DSM-5 risks mislabeling many people as mentally ill

The most worrying facet of the proposal to diagnose this condition in people without exhausting medical causation is the potential risk of missing genuine illness, as reflected in the field trial results. Hence, the high risk of false positives apropos somatic symptom disorder may equate to a high risk for false negatives apropos medical disease. We must not underestimate the power of labelling, particularly with respect to labels which have pejorative connotations. Once an individual is labelled as having this disorder, many physicians would prematurely dismiss future somatic presentations, whether it be conscious or unconscious. Such labels undoubtedly affect doctors' (physicians and psychiatrists alike) attitudes to these patients, usually negatively.