Abstract
Professor Nater and the editorial team at the International Journal of Behavioural Medicine should be congratulated on bringing together such a wide-ranging and interesting collection of papers for this special issue focused on functional somatic syndromes (FSS). While the papers contained within this issue appear, at first glance, to be diverse, we propose that there are three key themes running through this special issue. Firstly, the resolution of current debates surrounding the definition, identification and management of FSS is not merely of academic interest but has profound public health implications. Secondly, recent proposals to change the definition of somatoform disorders represent a useful step towards diminishing the dualistic approaches which have plagued the area of behavioural medicine, and finally, there is now sufficient evidence for FSS to begin to move away from being purely diagnoses of exclusion. The fact that these three topics emerged within this special edition is not by chance. Each of these topics maps onto some of the key current challenges in the field of consultation liaison psychiatry and behavioural medicine more generally.
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