[Internal representation of diseased organs and symbolic disguise of conflictual object relations]

Psychoanalytic-psychosomatic hypotheses assume, among other things, that patients with psychosomatic diseases tend to represent conflict-laden object relationship experiences symbolically in the diseased organ of the body. This assertion was tested on 139 patients having inflammatory and irritable bowel diseases with the help of the repertory grid technique. Univariate analysis showed that this hypothesis not only applies to the primary object, but is also valid for the partner relationship. Neither gender nor illness behaviour affect the connections observed here. Although patients with irritable bowel diseases as well as those suffering from Crohn's disease or colitis ulcerosa, have differing pathogeneses, there is a comparable tendency in all three diagnostic groups to represent object relationships leaded with conflict symbolically in the diseased organ of the body. The finding that the physical and psychological condition of the moment in the sense of a reactive component like-wise has to intervening influence, leads to the supposition that, in accordance with theoretical assumptions, this is a general factor.