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Psychosomatic medicine (PM) is a newly licensed subspecialty in the field of psychiatry; it is also known as consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry. C-L psychiatry provides knowledge, practice, and instruction in the relation between mental and physical illness. This field is associated with services like diagnosis, therapeutics and research of illnesses in this area. Hence it connects psychiatry and other medical specialties, so that physicians and psychiatrists can discuss how to best manage patients with psychosomatic illness.
The ancient Greeks and the French were well aware of psychosomatic disorders. Hippocrates was the first physician to affirm that mental factors have an impact on health and disease. The French philosopher Rene Descartes refreshed the psychological ethics of Hippocrates through his “body-mind dualism” theory, which promoted many scientific studies in relation to the body and mind.
Initially, physicians of C-L psychiatry were not aware of the psychosomatic features of medically ill patients. In the USA, C-L psychiatry started to evolve and underwent a series of developmental changes in the 20th century. In 2003, C-L psychiatry was given the comprehensive name psychosomatic medicine.
The psychosomatic medicine service (PMS) provides a complete approach to the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral needs of a patient through its dual function—as a consultant and as a part of a primary care crew. Both the functions of C-L psychiatry pursue the following objectives:
1. Clinical function:
In relation to the clinical function of psychosomatic medicine, there are two categories of psychiatrists:
2. Educational function:
Specialists in psychosomatic medicine provide education to nonpsychiatric physicians, medical students, and nursing staff about
3. Research function:
The field of psychosomatic medicine offers opportunity for research in the interface between medicine and psychiatry. Most research studies in this field over the last century has been conducted by consulting liaison psychiatrists, who are responsible for the rise of subspecialties like psycho-oncology, psycho-immunology, and psycho-obstetrics.
4. Administrative function:
This function is generally authorized either by the government or the respective institution. It usually involves an assessment of the violent actions of patients while they are under forcible restraint, and nonvoluntary treatment. For example, the psychiatrist in this department will assess the patient’s tendency to refuse medical procedures.
Other ways in which PM contributes to medical care include:
The above practices of psychosomatic medicine are limited in the field of teaching and in specialty hospitals because of the shortage of PM psychiatrists. In order to overcome this shortfall, the American psychiatric association, the University of Michigan, and other psychiatric academies have enhanced authorized fellowship programs.