The Psychologisation of Illness (Goudsmit, 2002)

[Dolphin]

Reference: Goudsmit, EM. The Psychologisation of illness. In Brostoff J, Challacombe SJ (eds.) Food Allergy and Intolerance. 2002. 2nd Edition. WB Saunders. Pp. 685-693.

Rather than post this in the personality thread (even though it might perhaps be useful for letters to the editor), I thought I'd highlight it here.

Although not on ME or CFS specifically, there are a lot of ME and CFS references in it.

Start

Introduction

Psychologisation describes the emphasis on psychological factors where there is little or no evidence to justify it (1). It's a process where relevant findings are ignored or downplayed in favour of data from incomplete examinations, flawed research or anecdotal reports. In a clinical context, differential diagnoses may be dismissed prematurely while psychological explanations are readily accepted. Psychologisation does not refer to situations where there is sound evidence that psychological factors play a significant role, or where all the arguments are discussed and the psychological explanations are deemed the most persuasive.

Psychologisation is a serious issue because it leads to misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment and unnecessary psychological distress (2). Moreover, it undermines the general population's confidence in orthodox medicine and reduces their trust in its practitioners. Yet, despite the dangers, psychologisation has received little attention in medical texts. In this article, I will discuss the main reasons underlying psychologisation and examine whether it has influenced views about food allergies and intolerance.

Free Full Text at: http://freespace.virgin.net/david.axford/psy-algy.htm

 

[Hip]

That is a very interesting verb, to psychologize.

Merriam-Webster Definition of Psychologize:

Intransitive Verb: to speculate in psychological terms or on psychological motivations

Transitive Verb: to explain or interpret in psychological terms

 

[Enid]

Many thanks for posting. It is a very worrying aspect of Medicine. Hoping now the evidence of Virals in ME is overwhelming the Profession will sort itself out.

 

[floydguy]

Thanks for posting this. From time to time I've tried to find the financial impact of "Psychologisation" of illness. As noted, there is very little information on this. The arrogance of the health care system is remarkable. It will end in the future when the country can't or won't continue to financially feed the monster.