PHOBIA OF ENVIRONMENTAL POISONS - REAL AN XIETY OR PSYCHIC DISORDER

A typical anxiety of our time is the anxiety of environmental poisons. Although some of the fears may be reasonable, anxiety diseases and so matoform disorders are important differential diagnoses. The limited v alue of toxicological and immunological parameters is discussed in dep th, and risk factors associated with the development of environmental phobia are presented. This establishes that the concept of ''clinical ecology'' lacks credible scientific foundation. It must be stressed, t hat ''clinical ecology'' may seriously hinder a proper psychosomatic d iagnosis and its relevant therapy.