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  3. The Interaction of Body and Mind The concept of psychosomatic illness Psycho, refers to mind, and soma, to body. Psychosom

The Interaction of Body and Mind The concept of psychosomatic illness Psycho, refers to mind, and soma, to body. Psychosom

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问题                       The Interaction of Body and Mind
   The concept of psychosomatic illness
   Psycho, refers to mind, and soma, to body. Psychosomatic illness is the occurrence of bodily symptoms(症状) which are psychological or emotional in origin.
   Mind and body are not separate; one affects and is affected by the other. Who has not experienced some physical manifestation of emotional stress? Such experiences as a headache after a quarrel and urinary frequency or diarrhea before an examination are not uncommon, and for most people they are of a temporary nature. The symptoms disappear and are forgotten after the crisis has passed. No treatment may be needed, or the patient may use simple remedies to relieve the discomfort. One person may find that a leisurely walk is the best cure for a headache; another may take aspirin.
   Certain conditions have been considered classic examples of psychosomatic illness: pepticulcer, eczema, colitis, and asthma. Personality profiles have been developed to describe the typical characteristics of persons who develop such illness. Another point of view is that human beings are more complex and varied in their responses than such profiles would indicate, and that the type of illness a patient develops in relation to stress varies with many additional factors, such as heredity and environment. Much remains to be learned about the relationship between stress and physical illness.
   Physical symptoms, such as palpitation, sweating, or disturbance of sleep, which reflect anxiety, may occur over a prolonged period. The symptoms may seem mysterious and threatening, because the patient is unaware of their cause. The patient whose heart beats more rapidly and forcefully as a manifestation of anxiety may report this symptom to his doctor, believing that something is wrong with his heart. Often the patient is not aware that he is anxious. He knows only that his heart keeps pounding for no apparent reason.
   Almost any symptom can have its origin in emotional stress. Some patients almost invariably have the same stress when they become anxious. One may have diarrhea, another asthma, and a third may develop hives or eczema. Some people develop two or several different symptoms; often the symptoms are experienced in an alternating fashion.
   The development of bodily symptoms is only one manifestation of anxiety. It may show up also symptoms that are primarily mental, such as the inability to concentrate or to remember. Such symptom too, vary in degree. Many people occasionally experience symptoms like moodiness or depression. When such symptoms are severe or long- lasting, they interfere with the functioning of individual in daily life and with his relationship with others.
   Sometimes a person subconsciously develops an illness as a way of handling a desperate need, such as the need for affection. The only real cure is to satisfy the primary desire. An example is a woman who has pain in her heart, not because of organic heart disease, but because the symptom is a way of gaining, if only temporarily, the love and attention for which she longs. Her husband cannot leave her when she is so sick; her children are concerned. Her pain is just as severe as if it had a physical cause.
The reality of psychosomatic illness
   Is the patient with psychosomatic illness really sick, or does he merely imagine he is sick? Many people, including the families of patients and members of the health professions, believe that physical illness which is influenced by emotional stress is less real, or wholly imaginary. Acknowledging the reality of the patients’ illness is important; it is the first step in helping him.
   Patients with psychosomatic illness are likely to be neglected. The same staff who give excellent care to other patients, not uncommonly ignore them. Some possible reasons may include the use of the term psycho as a prefix. Perhaps this conveys the idea that such patients are mentally iii, and therefore have no physical illness. Perhaps they are considered weaklings. One hears comments like, "He could snap out(克服) of it if he wanted to." Prejudice against these patients may be due to a belief that they are pretending illness in an attempt to get attention or favors.
   A patient with psychosomatic illness may be confused with a malingerer, one who deliberately pretends illness in order to achieve secondary gain, such as financial compensation or excuse from work. Pretending illness is considered an unhealthy and unsatisfactory solution to the problems of life. Often it adds to the patient’s difficulties, as he makes elaborate attempts to avoid detection. A malingerer can be helped sometimes to find ways of coping with difficulties. The essential difference between psychosomatic illness and malingering is that the malingerer pretends symptoms. It is a conscious process and he is aware that he is pretending to be sick. The patient with psychosomatic illness develops symptoms as manifestation of largely unconscious psychic conflicts. The symptoms are real.
   Condemnation(责难) of the patient with psychosomatic illness can persist despite intellectual understanding of theories about its cause. The patient can sense immediately whether those who care for him are trying to help him or not. It is important to understand that:
   The patient with psychosomatic illness is really sick. He is not pretending or imagining his symptoms.
   The idea that he can "snap out of it" at will is no more true than it is of those with diseases like pneumonia, whose need for care is readily acknowledged.
The first and the most important step in helping the psychosomatic patients is to ______.
选项
答案acknowledge the reality or the patients’ illness
解析 由题干中的关键词first，most important step，helping定位到第二个小标题下面首段末句：Acknowledging the reality of the patients’ illness is imaportant；it is the first step in helping him，由此得出答案。
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