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BACKGROUND: Somatization is a common problem in primary care and often presents puzzling problems for the family physician. A family or contextual approach is often useful in investigating and treating refractory symptoms. CASE PRESENTATION: A 63 year-old patient presented to his family physician with recurrent episodes of syncope, weakness and various other somatic symptoms. Lengthy clinical investigations found no organic pathological findings but a brief family assessment by the family physician revealed that the patient's wife was the "hidden" patient. Successful treatment of the patient's wife led to full recovery for both. CONCLUSIONS: Exploration and treatment of the family context may often hold the key to the solution of difficult problems in somatizing patients.

Original publication

DOI

10.1186/1471-2296-4-1

Type

Journal article

Journal

BMC Fam Pract

Publication Date

20/02/2003

Volume

4

Keywords

Antidepressive Agents, Tricyclic, Depressive Disorder, Family Health, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Somatoform Disorders, Spouses