Psychosomatic medicine

Abstract

Psychosomatic medicine may be defined as a comprehensive, interdisciplinary framework for: assessment of psychological factors affecting individual vulnerability as well as course and outcome of illness; biopsychosocial consideration of patient care in clinical practice; specialist interventions to integrate psychological therapies in the prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of medical disease. The aim of this review was to provide an updated definition of psychosomatic medicine, to outline its boundaries with related disciplines and to illustrate its main contributions to clinical and preventive medicine. A review of the psychosomatic literature, using both Medline and manual searches, with particular reference to articles, which could be relevant to clinical practice, was performed. Current advances in the field have practical implications for medical research and practice, with particular reference to the role of lifestyle, the challenge of medically unexplained symptoms, the psychosocial needs entailed by chronic illness, the appraisal of therapy beyond pharmaceutical reductionism, the function of the patient actively contributing to his/her health. Today, the field of psychosomatic medicine is scientifically rigorous, more diversified and therapeutically relevant than ever before.