From: The Historian | Date: January 1, 1993| Author: Hollander, Russell | COPYRIGHT 1993 Phi Alpha Theta, History Honor Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

Psychosomatic illnesses encompass ailments in which physical symptoms are the result of the unconscious mind, although the ailments are defined by their sufferers, as well as their physicians, as organic illness requiring medical explanation and intervention. This is a complex topic centering on the dynamics of the doctor-patient relationship within cultural contexts that legitimate changing styles of psychosomatic complaints. A history of psychosomatic illnesses must weave togethe...