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Psychosomatics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Edward Stonehill
Edward Stonehill*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Central Middlesex Hospital, London NW10 7NS
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Extract

The scope of psychosomatics would appear to be almost limitless, thus presenting a daunting task of selection. Psychosomatic medicine was dominated from about 1930 to the mid 1950's by psychoanalytic concepts. Indeed, the whole field appeared as an offshoot of psychoanalysis, which many people would now regard as a distorted view. During this period the area was most strongly influenced by the writings of Franz Alexander and Flanders Dunbar. Alexander put forward his specificity theory in which he postulated a causal link between a specific constellation of unconscious conflicts, of psychological modes of dealing with them and of their emotional and physiological correlations, on the one hand, and the development of one of several organic diseases, on the other hand. Psychosomatic Medicine: Its Principles and Applications (Alexander, 1952) and Emotions and Bodily Change (Dunbar, 1946) are recommended reading.

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Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 136 , Issue 3 , March 1980 , pp. 302 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1980 

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References

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