Causes and Mechanisms in Psychosomatic Phenomena

Abstract

The bases for a presumed crisis in psychosomatic research are examined with special reference to the nature of evidence required to establish etiologic significance in the field of digestive diseases.

Future research should exploit the rapid advances that have been developing in neurophysiology in order to identify the central and peripheral circuitry involved in psychosomatic mechanisms. In the experimental study of human subjects emphasis is needed on the interaction of a variety of potentially causative as well as protective factors. The modern sophisticated recording instruments may be of great value in documenting the perceptions of the investigator. The current trend away from descriptive research and human experimentation should be reversed.

Medical research is basically a process of inquiry. The rigorous testing of hypotheses has its place, an important place, but enthusiasm for such should not be allowed to block the powerful inferences that may derive when a trained and talented observer records what he sees or experiences. Moreover, inability to replicate an event does not negate its authenticity.

Descriptive evidence is usually called anecdotal and is thereby scorned. Darwin could provide a felicitous example here that many of the most revolutionary discoveries have resulted from astute observations and perceptive descriptions of relationships in nature. The work of Konrad Lorenz provides a more recent example.

Index Terms:

• psychosomatic
• stress
• methodology
• research strategy
• gastrointestinal diseases
• experimentation
• concepts