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Hi Virginia and All:
1 - This is very interesting, and as to "issue spotting" - among your other contributions you so well phrase this crucial sticking point: " Psychosomatic illness is not to be confused with hypochondria."
You touch on many good sub-threads, and this one (above) pops out for me because it is an ideal which many patients today can attest is real hard to keep implemented. As one but the only example, patients with physical pain but also other types of health conditions get labled "psychosomatic" used in the shopworn sense of fictious or factitious or conversion situations ... (Opposing this, we can discuss the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder's) disallowance of medically diagnosed conditions e.g. under the ICD (International Classification of Diseases) and also UN/WHO's ICF etc. other classifications (taxonomies).
Acknowledging that separate issues but having interligua between and among them is great IN THEORY - versus what can happen in practice given the short amount of time one has with a "doc." Betcha NDP folks have plenty of stories. Hope they share them when the time is right and ripe. Additionally, people here will be especially sensitive to and expert on what can happened when EMR (Electronic Medical Records) systems on computers get ahold of diagnostic "codes."
2 - Also, you inspire me to post perhaps on the current court cases I am involved in where neuralgic pain gets classified as mental illness by defendants in defamation.
Here is their " " " reasoning " " " (extremely ad hoc but note the false syllogism attendant, and the court agreed):
(by NotSoFree free association) Severe and Debilitating Physical Neuralgia Pain word associates with Neurological, and Neurological with the Brain, and the word "Mental" associates with the brain, so Physical Pain = Mental Illness basically. (they argue) . ( Like to hear your thoughts on this). .
Not in those words exactly but that's the flow .. I'll link up the actual Court Decision. A court Decision has precedential Weight.
3 - S'More thoughts from a network & psycholinguistic perspective: the current pain management multi-modality models and examples back up this idea of an interdisciplinary field. On the other hand the word "Psychosomatic" may be (what think U?) so burdened by its cultural history that perhaps another name will or should be chosen?
We should look at how these concepts are working out. For example, Beth Israel Hospital Palliative Care Center in New York (I believe under the wise and caring Dr. Portenoy) has various approaches "under one roof." Other places try to implement this having patients travel from place to place to touch many bases. The overhead is reported as tremendous; the health condition may get spoken of but little while reporting on the visits elsewhere. Insurance rates soar. The uninsured may most often not even get started.
<= These are all thoughts stimulated by your posts and may spring separate ISSUES posts.
4 - Feel certain all will receive your win scenario with relief and thanks. Hope you have opportunity to get in there seeing this is done right.if time allows.
Yes! (quoth the dolphin, our mascot, leaping aloft) it is imperative !!! you are 'of counsel' to the Medical Board and Dr. Sobel or a Principal Investigator in your own right. ( <MegaSmiles> I like to slip in extra jobs for you and Ed - if you want something done give it to a busy persons>. Thinking too .. the input of everyone here is going to be real important. You gotta stay as the hub. (Too naggy?)
Thanks so much again for the information and viewpoints. Delightful and instructive, instructive and delightful; please keep us up on your feelings and thoughts - that special Carraway *dual asset Take*.
:) LDMF.
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*Peace on the 11th and Evermore.* .L. D.Misek-Falkoff, Ph.D., J.D., Speaker/Intl. Ambassador, the National
Disability Party. Attendee, First UN Meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee toward a Disability Convention (Treaty) July/August 2002, NYC.
http://www.disabilityparty.com, http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/DisabilityParty, http://www.yahoogroups.com./group/pain-in-the-law, http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/How-Headpain-Hurts, http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/ChronicPainCooperate, http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Cyberlibel-And-Email.
*Peace on the 11th and Evermore.* .L. D.Misek-Falkoff, Ph.D., J.D., Speaker/Intl. Ambassador, the National
Disability Party. Attendee, First UN Meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee toward a Disability Convention (Treaty) July/August 2002, NYC.
http://www.disabilityparty.com, http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/DisabilityParty, http://www.yahoogroups.com./group/pain-in-the-law, http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/How-Headpain-Hurts, http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/ChronicPainCooperate, http://www.yahoogroups.com/group/Cyberlibel-And-Email.
----- Original Message -----From: virginiaedward@...Sent: Thursday, January 23, 2003 10:11 PMSubject: Re: [DisabilityParty] ISSUES: Views ? and Reviews ? / " Mental Heal...Hi Linda and All. Here are some thoughts about mental health and physical illness. These are not necessarily all my thoughts but come from a recent article in the LA Times, California on Monday, January 20th. 2003.
I personally, in my experience concur with the article. The article is titled "The mind's role comes into focus."
"In March, the American Board of Medical Specialties will decide whether to create a medical subspecialty in it," ( a field known as psychosomatic medicine). It is reported that the importance of the specialty in psychosomatic medicine would be to provide the patient that would treat the emotional factors that affect physical illness.
If the designation of this Medical Specialty is approved for psychosomatic medicine, "the designation would lead to more specific training, easier identification of experts and improved insurance reimbursement."
Currently, a lot of insurance's place limits on psychiatric visits, or psychiatric services do not exist in some health insurance policy. I see this a s a win-win situation for the patient and the necessary physician needed to treat the individual with physical problems that are compounded by emotional factors.
Psychosomatic illness is not to be confused with hypochondria.
"Psychosomatic conditions are real disorders that are caused or exacerbated by one's mental or emotional state."
A few statistic quoted out of the paper, " 25% of people who visit the doctor have physical symptoms most likely caused by their emotional state." Per Dr. David Sobel, director of patient education at Kaiser Permanente. He further states" as many as 80% show signs of significant psychological distress resulting from physical ailments."
The bottom line of the article is that people can get better, faster at less health care dollar if the total person is treated in total ***emotional and physical****
Our current system of health serves people in a fragmented, compartmentalized health care delivery mode. My thoughts. I must say, that this article "jazzed" me when I read it for the first time, on Monday and as I reread it again, it still is exciting.
Perhaps this information will stimulate some interesting discussion regarding mental health and physical ailments. Hopefully, a physician with expetise in this type of medicine will not be telling the patient "its all in your head". The hope and dream that the physician will be able to direct to stress manangement, etc., inclusive of the physical issues. It is well documented that stress contributes to many different types of medical conditions.
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