Somatization in response to undiagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder in a family

• Main Authors: Yaphe John, Weiss Rachel, Fogelman Yacov
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2003-02-01
• Series: BMC Family Practice
• Subjects: obsessive-compulsive disorder; family medicine; depression; family therapy; hidden patient; somatization
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2296/4/1

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Exploration and treatment of the family context may often hold the key to the solution of difficult problems in somatizing patients.</p>