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Personality Characteristics in Psychosomatic Illness

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Book cover Psychosomatic Medicine

Abstract

In the earlier part of this century, eminent psychoanalysts differentiated a group of diseases in which they considered mental processes to be of central importance. These were (in alphabetical order): bowel diseases (ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel syndrome), bronchial asthma, duodenal ulcer, essential hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, some skin diseases, and thyrotoxicosis. The psychogenesis and pathogenesis of these diseases were carefully studied. These studies yielded a number of theories relating specific sequences and specificities of mental and physiological events as central in the genesis of these diseases. The underlying theme was the expectation that specific personality profiles or unconscious conflicts were important to the pathogenesis of the above-mentioned diseases1,2.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Athens, 16, Acadimias Street, Athens, 10671, Greece

    G. C. Lyketsos & C. G. Lyketsos

Authors
  1. G. C. Lyketsos
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  2. C. G. Lyketsos
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Athens University Medical School, Athens, Greece

    George N. Christodoulou

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© 1987 Plenum Press, New York

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Lyketsos, G.C., Lyketsos, C.G. (1987). Personality Characteristics in Psychosomatic Illness. In: Christodoulou, G.N. (eds) Psychosomatic Medicine. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5454-3_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-5454-3_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-5456-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-5454-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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