Feeling unwell for a long time, but can't find any cause? Try Psychiatry

Feeling unwell for a long time, but can't find any cause? Try Psychiatry

> > Xiao Wang, who is in his early 30s this year, can be described as an old patient. Over the years, he has always felt abdominal pain, abdominal distension, palpitations, chest tightness, etc., and has visited hospitals at all levels. However, various examinations, whether blood biochemical and immunological examinations, gastroscopy, dynamic electrocardiography, ultrasound, CT, and magnetic resonance examinations, did not find any organic problems. In desperation, the admissions specialist had to suggest that he go to the psychiatric outpatient clinic. > > >

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In fact, situations like Xiao Wang are not uncommon. Such patients are encountered almost every day in general hospitals. They have obvious physical symptoms, but various examinations cannot find organic diseases consistent with them, or organic diseases are not sufficient to explain their symptoms. Foreign scholars call this situation a medically inexplicable symptom. These patients have been treated in general hospitals for a long time and received various examinations, which not only increases the mental and economic burden of patients and their families, but also causes a waste of medical resources.

Medically inexplicable symptoms are often chronic, fluctuating feelings of physical discomfort. These symptoms are not "imagined" or faked by the patient, they are real and affect the patient's ability to live and work normally, and affect the quality of life. The inability to find the corresponding cause makes the patient more distressed and does not know how to deal with such symptoms.

In the psychiatric literature, medically inexplicable symptoms are also called somatization, that is, there are obvious somatic symptoms, but there is no definite or sufficient pathological evidence, which may be more closely related to psychological factors. In the medical history, it is often found that the patient has recently been infected or suffered from a physical illness, or has seen or heard of someone being seriously ill or died, or has had anxiety and depression before the illness. Symptoms are sometimes triggered by bad emotions. Persistent feelings of physical discomfort can also lead to negative emotions such as depression, which in turn exacerbate physical discomfort and may trigger other symptoms, creating a vicious cycle.

Somatization is a symptom that can be seen in a variety of diseases and disorders and can involve any system of the body, such as fatigue, pain, palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, and nausea. Because medically unexplainable symptoms are closely related to some common mental disorders (such as depression, anxiety disorders and somatization disorders, etc.), and are obviously affected by psychosocial factors, vigilance is medical when you are troubled by unexplained pain for a long time. If unexplained symptoms are causing trouble, seek help from a psychiatrist.

Text/Chen Yanlin Dali Second People's Hospital

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