Patients suffering from psychosomatic disorders represent a formidable challenge. Psychosomatic disorders are common, and account for substantial personal discomfort, unnecessary medical expenditures, socioeconomic loss, and disability. They are challenging to diagnose, treat, and are rarely completely cured. Furthermore, they often provoke strong negative reactions from family, friends, and caregivers, who are unable to fathom their inconsistencies. Currently, little is known as to how they develop or why their symptoms tend to transform over time. In Pathologies of the Mind/Body Interface, Richard Kradin, a medical internist, pulmonologist, and psychoanalyst at a large Harvard hospital, examines the historical, philosophical, cultural, psychological, and neurobiological factors that contribute to the development of psychosomatic disorders. He focuses on the role that developmental stress and attachment disorders appear to play in increasing the risk of developing psychosomatic symptoms, and advises medical practitioners and psychologists on how to diagnose and treat them. Dr. Kradin suggests areas of importance for future medical and psychological research into the causes and treatments of these debilitating disorders.
Reviews

“Kradin’s unique perspective, as both a researching physician and a psychoanalyst, reminds one of the compassionate and courageous Freud, trusting the symptoms, even the psychosomatic ones, to lead us to a necessary understanding of the patient.” - Joseph Coppin PhD, Chair, Department of Depth Psychology, Pacifica Graduate Institute, California

“This is a highly readable and multi-dimensional review of an important cluster of human conditions encountered in medical practice that account for much human suffering and societal expense. In this exceptional new book Dr. Kradin, a medical scientist and psychoanalyst, provides us with pragmatic and insightful counsel.” - Gregory Fricchione, MD, Associate Chief of Psychiatry; Director,Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at MGH; Director, Division of Psychiatry and Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital; Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

“A wonderful, wise, clear overview of where we are in understanding psychosomatic conditions. Dr. Kradin is one of the best qualified people to explore this important subject. He integrates the latest findings in neuroscience, attachment literature, psychoanalysis, the placebo effect, and internal medicine to help explain psychosomatics. This is a marvelous place to begin one's quest to understand psychosomatic illness, and mind-body medicine.” - Norman Doidge MD, FRCPC, author of The Brain That Changes Itself

“Dr. Kradin provides a very thorough overview of the historical thinking behind psychosomatic disorders, the complex developmental and psychosocial backgrounds of these patients, and the importance of a nuanced understanding of such individuals. Most importantly, he provides concre...