Psychosomatic Medicine and the Contemporary Social Scene
JOHN J. SCHWAB M.D.1,
NANCY H. McGINNIS M.A.2,
LINDA B. NORRIS M.A.3, , and
RUBY B. SCHWAB
1 Professor of psychiatry and medicine, Department of psychiatry, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Fla. 32601
2 Research associate, Department of psychiatry, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Fla. 32601
3 Research assistant, Department of psychiatry, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Fla. 32601
Following a scrutiny of the relationships between sociocultural processes and psychosomatic illness, the authors question the relevance of current concepts of psychosomatic medicine to the contemporary social scene. In order to elaborate new concepts it must draw upon the social sciences because our environment is increasingly man-made. To be relevant, the authors conclude, psychosomatic medicine should integrate ecologic principles with its knowledge of psychic and physical processes.
