Background:Life satisfaction and perceived social support been shown to improve the well-being of a person and also affect the outcome of treatment in somatization disorder. The phenomenon of somatization was explored in relation to the perceived social support and life satisfaction.Aim:This study aimed at investigating perceived social support and life satisfaction in people with somatization disorder.Materials and Methods:The study was conducted on persons having somatization disorder attending the outpatient unit of LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam. Satisfaction with life scale and multidimensional scale of perceived social support were used to assess life satisfaction and perceived social support respectively.Results:Women reported more somatic symptoms than men. Family perceived social support was high in the patient in comparison to significant others’ perceived social support and friends’ perceived social support. Perceived social support showed that a significant positive correlation was found with life satisfaction.Conclusion:Poor social support and low life satisfaction might be a stress response with regard to increased distress severity and psychosocial stressors rather than a cultural response to express psychological problems in somatic terms.

In view of growing incidences of schizophrenia, a common mental disorder, present study enrolled 60 such patients (30 each in experimental and control groups) to evaluate pre- and post-intervention knowledge of schizophrenic patients and their self-care performance among in-patients of LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health in Tejpur (Assam). An association between knowledge and self-care performance was also studied. The findings revealed deficiencies in self-care performance and areas of knowledge among schizophrenic patients. However, the psycho-education intervention was effective on both the counts.

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Culture shapes the perception and expression of distress .The occurrence of somatization varies across socio cultural groups and seems to be influenced by psychosocial factors. The study was conducted on somatization patients selected from outpatient unit of LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam. The data was collected in a period of three months from September to November, 2008. Subjects fulfilling the criteria of the study were evaluated for socio demographic variables and clinical presentation on semi structured proforma and thereafter the Bradford Somatic Inventory 1, Satisfaction with Life Scale 2 , Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support 3 ,WHO Wellbeing Index (1998) 4 and Perceived Stress Scale 5 were administered. Women have consistently been shown to report more somatic symptoms than men. Perceived social supports and perceived stress was found to have a significant positive correlation with life satisfaction. Wellbeing was found to be poor in the most of the patients and was found to have a significant positive correlation with perceived stress. Somatization is common in all ethno cultural groups and societies studied to date. The importance of demographics, psychosocial functioning, perceived stress, availability of social support was emphasized in the explanation of somatization tendencies among the subjects in the present study.