The International journal of social psychiatry
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Int J Soc Psychiatry · Jan 1988
Psychosomatic disorders in psychiatric patients in a developing country.
This study reports the prevalence of psychosomatic disorders in psychiatric patients in India. The psychosomatic disorders studied were hypertension, peptic ulcer, bronchial asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, ischaemic heart disease and chronic pain. 21.5% of psychiatric patients had psychosomatic illnesses. Fifty five cases had two psychosomatic illnesses. ⋯ Neurotic illness was the commonest diagnosis in them. Psychosis was significantly and inversely associated with psychosomatic disorders. This report emphasises the need for as much attention on psychosomatic problems in developing countries as in affluent ones.
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Historical evidence indicates that until the seventeenth century, a dialectical conception of madness existed; it combined the elements of loss of reason and idiocy with prophecy and clairvoyance. The onset of the Age of Reason marked the end of man's communication with madness and the accompanying dissolution of the dialectic--madness became solely a symbol of opprobrium and the insane were herded off into houses of confinement. Because mad people are returning to the streets again, it is important that we begin to explore the potential benefits that can be derived from re-establishing our communications with madness, i.e. reconstituting the dialectic. An examination of the formerly valued aspects of madness can serve as a useful point of departure.