It ’s time to phase out the word “psychosomatic”

Psychosomatic. I learned not to use that word forty years ago, after I’d told a patient her malady might be psychosomatic in origin. She turned red, jumped up, and on her way out said, “I hope you fall into an open manhole and die!” Well, maybe I should’ve been more circumspect. I hadn’t realized until then that people can understand “psychosomatic” in a different way than I do. I’d meant what I still do, that the mind can affect the body. She thought psychosomatic was code for imaginary, as though I’d said it was all in her mind. And I suspect most of us believe that psychosomatic means crazy or hypochondriacal or flat-out faking. I’m intrigued that that view persists, considering what we’ve learned about how the mind thoroughly informs the body. Ironically, most of us accept this to some degree even while we resent a P-word diagnosis. For example, was your last cold preceded by a period of intense stress? Beyond colds, do you believe stress can aid the development of heart disease and high blood pressure? Or let me ask you this: If you suffer low back pain, where do you predict it would hurt more — at your daughter’s wedding or at your IRS audit? And to ask this more generally, what illnesses are not created or influenced by choices we’ve made in our lifestyle? Continue reading ... Your patients are rating you online: How to respond. Manage your online reputation: A social media guide. Find out how.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Tags: Conditions Psychiatry Source Type: blogs