Somatization reconsidered - Incorporating the patient's experience of illness

The large and heterogeneous group of patients with "unexplained somatic sym ptoms," with or without coexisting psychiatric, "functional," or "organic" illnesses, provides continuing difficulty for clinicians. The construct of somatization artificially separates bodily and psychological symptoms that patients experience as a unified whole. Concurrent chronic illnesses make i t difficult to exclude "general medical conditions." The diagnosis requires that the patient seek medical care. Conflict between patients' experiences of illness and physicians' diagnostic categories, and fear of blaming the patient, complicate naming and characterizing the illness. We recommend an approach to clinical care that involves exploring the patient's life contex t, finding mutually meaningful language to arrive at a name for the illness , normalizing the patient's bodily experience of distress, using a chronic disease model that attends to functioning, and addressing the physician's n eed for certainty and efficacy. Health systems can help coordinate care and avoid iatrogenic harm by appropriately controlling access to medical servi ces.