Psychoanalysis and the mind-body relation: Psychosomatic perspectives

Abstract

Psychosomatic medicine has been historically an important focus for psychoanalytic theorizing. The mind-body relation has special relevance for understanding psychosomatic conditions because psychological and psychodynamic factors are so intimately intertwined with physiological parameters that they cannot for all practical purposes be disentangled. Dualistic impressions of mind and body have given way to more integrated perspectives in which psychic and bodily processes are conceived of as operating within the same conceptual framework. Implications of a more integrated view of the mind-body relation are discussed in relation to emotions and psychosomatic symptoms, development of psychosomatic vulnerabilities, somatization, and alexithymia.