PhronesisWe apply the Displacement Framework to Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD, DSM-5), formalizing it as W_SSD — a bidirectional wrong attractor in which psychological distress translates into and amplifies through somatic symptoms, and somatic symptoms generate excessive psychological distress about their significance. The proportionate body-mind translation ground state S⁰_somatic is defined as accurate interoceptive attribution: somatic signals correctly identified and attributed proportionately to physical or psychological causes without excessive health behaviors.
W_SSD is maintained by Barsky's somatosensory amplification mechanism — interoceptive hypervigilance increases symptom awareness and distress perception — creating a bidirectional loop: psychological distress → somatic amplification → excessive health behaviors → medical escalation → unresolved distress → amplified somatic symptoms. Nine formal propositions cover: S⁰_somatic definition (P1), W_SSD bidirectional architecture (P2), somatosensory amplification as core mechanism (P3), body as psychological distress channel with ACE dose-response (P4), medical system entanglement — negative investigations validate somatic focus and specialist escalation deepens W_SSD (P5), cumulative Φ_SSD across medical, occupational, and relationship domains (P6), cultural somatic idioms of distress (P7), CBT and mind-body return paths (P8), and the therapeutic relationship as return-path enabler — patient validation before psychological treatment is accepted (P9).
SSD connections to fibromyalgia, IBS, and functional neurological disorder are analyzed.