Psychosomatic practice and the concept of family confrontation as therapeutical method

Psychosocial dynamics within the family are first touched upon. Relationships between brothers and sisters play a special part in this respect, as do other factors related to personality development. It is one of the special tasks of the general practitioner to be alert to the first signs of emotional disturbances, for he is in an ideal position to intervene before more serious symptoms of illness appear. The physician has to acquire a valid picture of the family unit, with its physical and psychological strengths and short-comings. Continued flight from pressure of vital issues can lead to family neurosis in the long run. Then, the sick person is not really the carrier of disease in the traditional sense of germ or genetic consation. He is only a 'symptom' of a much more widely encompassing disease unit that has grasped a social cell like the family. Are we physicians and scientists in a position, as a consequence of our training, to see this possibility, or are such modes of thinking to be left to special fields like medical sociology? The isolated, sick person can show signs derived from a disturbed family relationship, particularly through psychosomatic disorders. Our 'psychosomatic confrontation' therapeutical method is introduced.