Author(s): WANG Xin-jian, CHEN Zi-chen
Pages: 110-116
Year: 2014 Issue:  2
Journal: Journal of Nanjing Normal University(Social Science Edition）
Keyword:  somatization; medically unexplained symptoms; medical history; cultural psychology;
Abstract: Medically unexplained symptoms are functional somatic symptoms which cannot be reasona-bly explained by physiological causes of experimental medicine. They are also one of the core elements of the diagnostic criteria for identifying somatic psychological disorders like somatization. The defini-tion of medically unexplained symptoms and its history reflect the dualist division between general med-icine and psychiatry in the western medical system. From the Chinese perspective characterized by an integrated whole of body and mind and by the concept of holistic medicine,the dualist division of the medical sciences is not unavoidable. This difference constitutes one of the reasons why somatization di-agnosis is not applicable in China.