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Psychosomatic Disorders, C. David Claybrook

Honors Theses

The term psychosomatic is derived from two Greek words, "psyche" meaning mind and "soma" meaning body. The concept embodies the principle that the mind is closely integrated with the body, that they are inseparable. A psychosomatic illness, therefore, is an illness that has its foundations in the mind but is manifested or has its symptoms in the body. It is important to realize that these illnesses are not merely in the rampant imagination of the sick person's mind. They are very real and often painful organic disorders. The distinguishing factor in psychosomatics is that they are precipitated, to a major …