[Patients in (post)modern society--does psychosomatic medicine still have concrete foundations?]

The paper describes the scientific development psychosomatic medicine has undergone in the last decades, as well as the politically induced changes in the German Health Care system. In three future scenarios the dangers of a) biological and b) voluntaristic schools of thought are presented along with the c) consequences of ecological destruction and economic power. The increasing trend for psychosomatic medicine to use salutogenetic models is discussed as a feasible approach for the prevention of fear-provoking perspectives.