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Many patients, after a physical examination for very real complaints, often ask their doctors, “Could it be psychosomatic?” This familiar question may be asked by patients of all degrees of sophistication.

In this age of psychological enlightenment, some patients feel, or are made to feel, that they complain too much about their symptoms, with the implication that they are psychological in origin.

The sensitive threshold for pain or discomfort varies from patient to patient. This often determines the overlay of anxiety which, then, may become in itself a dominant symptom. Far too often, underlying physical disease may be overlooked because a sensitive patient is classed as a “chronic complainer.”

Patients become aware of this and sometimes accuse themselves of being hypochondriacs and tend to deny the validity of their complaints. It then becomes an artistic endeavor for physicians to differentiate psychological disturbances from real physical problems.

In this age where anxiety is common, it is almost impossible for a physical illness not to be accompanied by fears and tension. One of the great accomplishments of doctors lies in the word “empathy,” or the ability to project themselves into the concern of the patient.

With such empathy, a highly important aspect of the total practice of medicine, the patient can gain the assurance and reassurance so vital to their recovery.

Even if the overlay of anxiety is greater than the physical symptoms that a patient presents, it is imperative that concern and consideration of these fears must be incorporated in the total evaluation of a patient, if a total cure is to be achieved.

America’s medicine cabinets are lined with rows of half-empty bottles. These are evidence of some failure in the written or verbal communication between patients and their doctors.

I’m not advocating the use of drugs for treating anxiety related conditions, but if you go the route of asking for them, it makes sense to complete the program, so that your doctor can better establish a program of recovery.

These leftover antibiotics, antihistamines, analgesic drugs and the like are mute evidence that a carefully planned program of treatment has, in some way, been misunderstood or interrupted.

Doctors all over America are perplexed by patients who, for some unexplained reason, will suddenly stop taking medicines that are prescribed for them. Patients with high blood pressure and even those with mild diabetes, sometimes make their own decision to stop taking drugs.

I am still a big believer in non drug based programs for treating anxiety and panic attack symptoms, however, in order to get you back on the right track fast, it may be necessary to look at the use of drugs as a short term solution.

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