Editorial
Prospects of Psychosomatic Medicine
1 Department of Psychosomatic Research, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, Tokyo, Japan
2 Department of Psychology, Boston College, Boston, USA
3 Department of Stress Sciences and Psychosomatic Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
4 Department of Hygiene and Public Health, Teikyo University School of Medicine, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan
5 Division of Psychosomatic Medicine, Teikyo University Hospital, Itabashi, Tokyo, Japan
BioPsychoSocial Medicine 2009, 3:1 doi:10.1186/1751-0759-3-1
Published: 22 January 2009First paragraph (this article has no abstract)
Looking back on the history of the psychosomatic medicine in Japan, the focus of our scientific research and medical practice was, at first, the elucidation of the psychosomatic correlation between a patient's neurosis and physical complaints. We then moved in the direction of physical disorders – psychosomatic diseases – in which psychosocial factors were closely involved in the onset and course. We have always advocated the importance of a comprehensive medical approach to the whole person for such physical disorders.
