What Is Psychosomatic Medicine?

Psychosomatic medicine is a branch of medicine. It is the science that studies the relationship between psychological factors and human health and disease. Mainly study the pathogenesis of psychosomatic diseases. In a broad sense, it refers to medicine that studies biological, psychological, and social factors in human health and disease. It is actually a method of understanding health and disease. In the narrow sense, it refers to medicine that studies psychosomatic diseases, and studies the etiology, pathology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of psychophysiological diseases. It is also known as psychophysiological medicine. ^[1]

Psychosomatic medicine

(Medical Branch)

Psychosomatic medicine is a branch of medicine. It is the science that studies the relationship between psychological factors and human health and disease. Mainly study the pathogenesis of psychosomatic diseases. In a broad sense, it refers to medicine that studies biological, psychological, and social factors in human health and disease. It is actually a method of understanding health and disease. In the narrow sense, it refers to medicine that studies psychosomatic diseases, and studies the etiology, pathology, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of psychophysiological diseases. It is also known as psychophysiological medicine. ^[1]

The psychosomatic medical science system was established in the 1930s. It has a history of about 80 years. The term psychosomatic medicine was formally introduced by the German psychiatrist Henros in the discussion market in 1918. It was adopted by Dunber, an American psychiatrist and one of the pioneers of psychosomatic medicine in 1935, and promoted by the American Society of Psychosomatic Medicine established in 1939 in the American Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine where he led the publication in 944.

Research fields of psychosomatic medicine: (not only limited to the disease of an organ and system, but not only the pathogenesis of the disease) It is the study of the tendency, susceptibility, cause, prognosis, body and psychology of the disease In terms of its precursory characteristics, psychosomatic related laws. (There are broad and narrow perspectives in terms of concepts and research scopes, and there are still many differences so far)

Psychosomatic medicine is a study of human health and disease from the basic stance of mind and body, and tries to propose "comprehensive-holistic medical discipline". Its theoretical basis is "principle of mind and body".

The development of medicine is often closely related to the changes in human scientific understanding of the body and diseases. In ancient times, medicine was based on people's knowledge of the demonization of disease. It focused on sacrifice, prayer,

Psychosomatic disease

Psychosomatic diseases are the research and treatment objects of psychosomatic medicine. Traditional Chinese medicine that focuses on the study of the human body from the perspective of holism and vitality, and the important influence of psychological factors on human diseases since ancient times. The early Chinese medical book "The Yellow Emperor's Canon" said: "Heart of the heart, the Lord of the Five Internal Organs and the Six Organs, so sadness and sorrow are heartbeats, and heartbeat is all the internal organs are shaken." , Fear of hurting the kidney. "Chinese medicine also believes that there are two reasons for a person's illness-" Exogenous sexism (

Since the psychological and social conditions have such a strong impact on the health of the body, research on how to treat patients with psychosomatic diseases using methods different from traditional biomedical models has become one of the main tasks of psychosomatic medicine.

Generally speaking, psychosomatic medicine examines and diagnoses patients in a comprehensive manner. It will formulate corresponding treatment measures according to the different proportions of physiological and psychosocial factors that play a pathogenic role in different patients. ". For patients with acute onset and severe physical symptoms, such as patients with acute myocardial infarction and patients with hyperventilation syndrome, physiotherapy should be taken first to prevent further deterioration of the disease and severe damage to the body. For patients with menopausal syndrome, chronic peptic ulcer and other diseases, in view of chronic symptoms and strong psychological factors, in addition to giving appropriate medical treatment, we should focus on psychological and behavioral guidance and other tasks. .

Psychosomatic

The competitive pressure of contemporary society can be described as unprecedented, and the resulting highly common psychological and physical problems (modern diseases) have also brought new calls to the medical community. The long-term practice of medicine has proved that neglect of the patient's psychological factors will bring adverse effects to the medical effect. With regard to the increasing incidence of heart disease, medical researchers have considered the non-negligible role of the hustle and bustle of the city, and have started to improve the treatment of cardiovascular disease to make it more comprehensive.

At the same time, the relationship between psychology, psychiatry and medicine is getting closer. Numerous general hospitals have established psychiatric departments, and psychiatrists are often invited to participate in consultations with physical patients with psychiatric symptoms or emotional stress. In Europe, omnipotent doctors are emerging, and they have the technology to treat both physical and psychological diseases. Comprehensive treatment of physical and psychological disorders will become more common. It seems that there will be a trend in the future. Clinicians increasingly need to master psychology, psychiatry and psychosomatic medical knowledge, and psychiatrists increasingly need to learn to cooperate with physicians for diagnosis and treatment.

In addition, psychosomatic medicine is also looking for strong supporting evidence on the effectiveness of behavioral therapy. Behavior therapy refers to the purpose of improving the mental state and the functional state of the body and organs through the conscious setting of physical behavior. Common behavioral therapies include aversion stimulation, behavioral encouragement, fear exposure, and organ feedback. The positive effects of special muscle relaxation therapies, such as Chinese Qigong, Yoga, etc., on human health are now obvious to all. Although psychosomatic medicine does not pay attention to the design of specific therapies, it is using the rapidly developing science and technology and research methods to try to find a theoretical basis for these healthy practice results.

It is worth mentioning that the valuable resources of traditional Chinese medicine, especially the research results on the relationship between emotion and body, and behavioral treatment methods such as "Qigong", will undoubtedly give to The future development of this discipline brings strong momentum.

In the early days of the founding of our country, influenced by the Soviet scientific model, it once held an attitude of rejection of psychosomatic medicine. Therefore, because the starting point is too low, psychosomatic medicine is still a new marginal subject in China, and there is still a big gap between the development of scientific research and treatment and developed countries such as Europe and the United States. Great fetters. Therefore, it is important to reform the domestic medical model. It is even more urgent to strengthen the comprehensive professional education of medical students and improve the professional quality of comprehensive psychosomatic treatment.