Final answer:
Criterion B of Somatic Symptom Disorder is characterized by excessive worry about health, preoccupation with serious illness, and somatic complaints that are disproportionate to actual physical symptoms. It requires persistent and significant anxiety about health concerns or symptoms that is not necessarily consistent with the severity of any physical issue present.
Step-by-step explanation:
The common ways that Criterion B of Somatic Symptom Disorder presents include excessive worry about one's health, preoccupation with having a serious illness, and somatic complaints. Unlike Criterion A, which requires the presence of one or more somatic symptoms, Criterion B focuses on the individual's excessive thoughts, feelings, or behaviors related to the somatic symptoms or associated health concerns, as per the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
Examples might be an individual becoming excessively anxious over physical symptoms that a physician assures are not harmful, spending substantial time and energy on health concerns, or behaving in a way that is overly affected by the symptoms, such as constant doctor visits despite no evidence of a serious condition. The severity and persistence of these thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are disproportionate to the seriousness of the actual physical symptoms.
It's important to differentiate between this condition and other mental health issues like panic attacks or hallucinations and delusions, which are not characteristic of Somatic Symptom Disorder. Symptoms such as these may be indicative of different psychiatric disorders that require their own specific treatments and interventions.