Problem events and psychosomatic disorders in family practice

Abstract

In April, 1970 a group consisting of 134 patients was chosen and studied, with results which were published in this periodical for June 1971. It will be recalled the group consisted of 77 patients suffering from what were diagnosed as psychosomatic illnesses, and of another 57 patients who had come to the office for some reason such as pregnancy, an injury, a minor cold etc. who served as controls. In reviewing the previous study it became apparent that the assessment of the psychotropic events had been inaccurate. All psychotropic events had been given a score of one regardless of the type of event. The same 134 patients were reviewed two years later, in 1972. Most of the patients had been followed as they either returned to the office for other complaints or else members of their family had come to the office for other reasons enabling us to obtain a continuous history and to assess the effect of treatment. Following this study several observations have been deduced, whereby a key factor indicates that psychotropic problem events may cause psychiatric and organic illnesses if not treated and checked at an early stage.