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you gotta love how quickly people will downvote anyone who provides any sort of evidence for the existence of psychosomatic syndromes. they'll probably claim it

you gotta love how quickly people will downvote anyone who provides any sort of evidence for the existence of psychosomatic syndromes. they'll probably claim it's because you didn't read the article. but this can't be it because the article very clearly said the etiology is still up for debate (despite focusing on the one medical doctor's claims). there's something inherently offensive about the proposition of psychogenic disorders. neurotics will not so easily give up their jouissance. i greatly admire schubiner and sarno for exploring this issue but their limits are clear, and they admit it themselves. relatively few patients (i think for sarno it was like 20%?) will "accept the diagnosis." and why should they? again, in 80% of patients the crisis of jouissance is not sharp enough to really investigate their unconscious. and of course in many of those 20% of patients (yourself and myself included) the jouissance is displaced elsewhere, perhaps to somewhere much less obvious than chronic lower back pain.

JoeyJoJoJunior 7y ago
The problem is that we are terrible at dealing with cognitive dissonance. When someone believes they have a disorder for many years/decades it becomes a part of their identity. Admitting they were wrong means that they needlessly caused suffering to themselves. It is embarrassing and emotionally painful. They become instantly defensive, and hostile towards anyone offering alternative explanations.
- interpenetrate 7y ago
  indeed the syndrome can take on a life of its own (become part of their identity), and perhaps that's when it's at its most fragile. it's why after 10 years of suffering your pain could vanish immediately after learning it may serve a psychological purpose. but i think for many neurotic people (and most of us are indeed neurotic) the syndrome (i use lacan's jouissance) serves its purpose just fine. so don't you dare take it from them.
- kirsebaer 7y ago
  Plus, they might then have to think about what is actually bothering them, and that could be very upsetting.

JoeyJoJoJunior 7y ago

The problem is that we are terrible at dealing with cognitive dissonance. When someone believes they have a disorder for many years/decades it becomes a part of their identity. Admitting they were wrong means that they needlessly caused suffering to themselves. It is embarrassing and emotionally painful. They become instantly defensive, and hostile towards anyone offering alternative explanations.

interpenetrate 7y ago
indeed the syndrome can take on a life of its own (become part of their identity), and perhaps that's when it's at its most fragile. it's why after 10 years of suffering your pain could vanish immediately after learning it may serve a psychological purpose. but i think for many neurotic people (and most of us are indeed neurotic) the syndrome (i use lacan's jouissance) serves its purpose just fine. so don't you dare take it from them.
kirsebaer 7y ago
Plus, they might then have to think about what is actually bothering them, and that could be very upsetting.