Search results for "Somatic psychology"
showing 2 items of 2 documents
Don't change a winning horse
2005
IntroductionThere is surprising excitement about the adequacy andfuture of the somatoform disorders (SFDs) as a circum-scribed diagnostic group [1–4]. Some authors wish to takethe forthcoming fifth revision of the Diagnostic andStatistical Manual (DSM) as a welcome occasion to removean unloved diagnostic term. However, eliminating the SFDswould devaluate the progress of research and clinicalpractice made during the past 25 years. It would lead toinsecurity and confusion in an interdisciplinary field whereclear terminology and common understanding is of highvalue. This contribution attempts to summarize some of themajor reasons why DSM-V should continue with the SFDs.Some suggestions will be…
The dexamethasone suppression test in depressed patients: Clinical and biochemical aspects
1983
Summary Endogenous depression (ED) is regarded as a psychiatric disease with a biological pathogenesis. Consequently patients with ED respond favourably to somatic treatment, whereas for non-endogenously depressed patients drug-treatment would be often inappropriate. Until now, psychopathologists have failed to define precisely the endogenous subtype of depression on clinical features alone. It is well established that a subgroup of depressed patients shows hypersecretion of Cortisol and consequently inadequate suppression of Cortisol after a test dose of dexamethasone. This dexamethasone suppression test (DST) was introduced as a laboratory marker, specifically identifying endogenously dep…