Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to provide primary care physicians and medical specialists with an experiential psychosomatic framework for understanding patients with body distress symptoms. The framework relies on somatic awareness, a normal part of consciousness, to resolve the dualism inherent in conventional multidisciplinary approaches. Somatic awareness represents a guiding healing heuristic which acknowledges the validity of the patient's physical symptoms and uses body sensations to identify the psychological, physiological, and social factors needed for symptom self-regulation. The experiential approach is based on psychobiologic concepts which include bodily distress disorder, central sensitization, dysfunctional breathing, and contextual nature of mood.
Highlights
Symptoms of somatic or body distress (BD), more widely known as medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) or functional somatic syndromes, are characterized by patterns of persistent physical complaints for which adequate examination does not reveal specific pathology [1]
We propose that psychosomatic approaches can be better integrated into clinical practice by the inclusion of somatic awareness as a form of tacit knowing
The focus on somatic awareness avoids the physical-psychological dualism inherent in conventional models. It provides a non-confrontational framework that acknowledges both the validity of the patient's physical symptoms and the identification of psychological and social factors needed for the healing process
Summary
Symptoms of somatic or body distress (BD), more widely known as medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) or functional somatic syndromes, are characterized by patterns of persistent physical complaints for which adequate examination does not reveal specific pathology [1]. Her husband was prescribed an antidepressant to control anger outbursts and she fears that any improvement is the "result of the drug and not him" and not likely to last By experiencing her body in the context of emotions, the patient was able to begin to understand the connection between past and present traumatic experiences and the 18-year history of abdominal cramps and pain. Somatic awareness involves directing a patient's attention to interoceptive or body experience and associated feelings for the purpose of self-healing and achieving health [22]. The use of this healing heuristic in primary care would advance the understanding of how the body self-heals. We advise that rest is as good as sleep – not entirely true, but if practiced, sleep will come
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