Trauma/psychiatric symptoms | History of sexual abuse or trauma |
| Increased stress |
| Increased anxiety and panic symptoms |
| Increased alexithymia |
| Comorbid dissociative disorders |
Somatic symptoms | Comorbid fatigue, chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome |
| Parent reinforcement and concern over physical symptoms, resulting in increased symptoms |
| Impairment in sensory gating, allowing for excessive information loading |
Illness exposure | Precipitating physical event or physical trauma |
| Personal or family history of neurological disorder |
| Personal or family history of other health disorder |
| Profession in a medical or paramedical field |
| Media exposure to neurological disorder |
Symptom monitoring | Impairment in habituation |
| Increased focus on external body features |
| Increased self-monitoring |
Neurobiological evidence | Abnormal attentional focus on affected area |
| Beliefs and expectations about illness |
| Deficits in sense of control over actions |
| Interregional neural network deficits in limbic system, sensorimotor areas and prefrontal cortex |
| Functional and structural brain abnormalities |