Psychosomatic Knowledge and the Role of the Physician: A Sociological View

1974 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard J. Bergen

One of the important tasks for psychosomatic medicine is that of educating clinical specialties outside of Psychiatry to the way in which psychosocial factors are implicated in illness. There is reason to believe that this educative task is more complicated than it appears at first glance. One of the difficulties may lie in a resistance on the part of physicians to integrating psychosocial knowledge into their ongoing activities because of a threat which that information poses to the historical foundation of their role. Following Foucault's study of the origin of modern medicine, this foundation can be said to be grounded in the belief that the truth of the suffering patient is that which reveals itself in the space of the body to the informed gaze of the physician. Psychosocial knowledge confronts the physician with the need to accept coexistent realities of the suffering of illness. As disruptive as educating physicians to this idea of “coexistent realities of illness” may be, it is essentially a task, belonging to psychosomatic medicine, of bringing the physician into the circle of scientific modernity.

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 909-919
Author(s):  
Ewa Sawicka ◽  
Arkadiusz Woźniak ◽  
Małgorzata Drąg-Zalesińska ◽  
Agnieszka Piwowar

Oncological diseases, due to the still increasing morbidity and mortality, are one of the main problems of modern medicine. Cancer of the mammary gland is the most common cancer among women around the world, and is the second cause of cancer deaths in this group, immediately after lung cancer. This kind of cancer belongs to an estrogen-dependent cancer, with proven associations with hormonal disorders in the body, occurring especially in the perimenopausal period and among women using hormone replacement therapy, as well as a result of the action of various xenobiotics that may interact with the estrogen receptor. Hormone steroids are widely used in medicine and their side effects are constantly discussed. The role of these compounds and their metabolites in maintaining hormonal balance is well understood, while many studies indicate the possible contribution of these steroids in the progression of the cancer process, especially in mammary gland tissue. Therefore, the genotoxic action of this group of compounds is still studied. Due to the limited number of scientific reports, the aim of this paper was to review and critically analyze data from the literature regarding the participation of estrogens (17β-estradiol) and their metabolites (2-methoxy estradiol, 4-hydroxy estradiol, 16α-hydroxyestrone) in the induction of carcinogenesis in mammary gland, in particular concerning the genotoxic activity of 17β-estradiol metabolites.


1970 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-31
Author(s):  
Samin Gheitasy ◽  
Leila Montazeri ◽  
Simin Dolatkhah

The dramatic text defines, to some extent, the structure of the work but the type of performance and the physical approach to the text can represent different meanings. The body of the actor, as a means of conveying concepts from the text to the audience, can be effective in creating different interpretations and meanings of the text. Since eons ago, directors have used the body of the actor with different approaches, and the application of body on the stage has always been underdoing changes. Anne Bogart is one of the few directors who is less known in the Iranian theater despite possessing the most updated and well-known methods of practice and performance in the world. Using her viewpoint method, she brings live and dynamic bodies to the stage; bodies that are able to convey the hidden meanings of the text to the audience in the most suitable way. The overall purpose of this research is to find the relationship between the dramatic text and the performance with the centrality of the body with a sociological view toward the body. To this end, by presenting Foucault's theories, the researchers defines the role of the body in the society and its extent of effectivity and impressibility. Finally, this study explores the implications of this role in each element of Aeschylus’s The Persians, and it shall show how Bogart beautifully represents them using the bodies of her actors during performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Marechal

Abstract In this paper I examine the moral psychology of the Phaedo and argue that the philosophical life in this dialogue is a temperate life, and that temperance consists in exercising epistemic discernment by actively withdrawing assent from incorrect evaluations the body inclines us to make. Philosophers deal with bodily affections by taking a correct epistemic stance. Exercising temperance thus understood is a necessary condition both for developing and strengthening rational capacities, and for fixing accurate beliefs about value. The purification philosophers strive for, and the purifying role of philosophy, should then be understood as a clarificatory act consisting in making one’s thoughts clear and withdrawing assent from erroneous evaluative content in our desires and pleasures. Along the way, I argue that philosophers must neither avoid situations and activities that cause bodily affections as much as possible, nor ignore or care little about them.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 305-320
Author(s):  
Shiloh Whitney ◽  

What resources does Merleau-Ponty’s account of the body schema offer to the Fanonian one? First I show that Merleau-Ponty’s theory of the body schema is already a theory of affect: one that does not oppose affects to intentionality, positioning them not only as sense but as force, cultivating affective agencies rather than constituting static sense content. Then I argue that by foregrounding the role of affect in both thinkers, we can understand the way in which the historical-racial schema innovates, anticipating and influencing feminist theories of the affective turn – especially Sara Ahmed’s theory of affective economies. The historical-racial schema posits the constitution of affective agencies on a sociogenic scale, and these affective economies in turn account for the possibility of the collapse of the body schema into a racial epidermal schema, a disjunction of affective intentionality Fanon calls “affective tetanization.” Quelles ressources l’analyse du schéma corporel faite par Merleau-Ponty fournit-elle au schéma historico-racial proposé par Fanon ? En premier lieu, je vise à montrer que la théorie du schéma corporel de Merleau-Ponty est déjà une théorie de l’affect : une théorie qui n’oppose pas les affects à l’intentionnalité, qui ne les considère pas seulement comme un sens, mais comme une force, en cultivant des agentivités affectives plutôt qu’en constituant des contenus de sens statiques. Ensuite, j’affirmerai qu’en mettant en premier plan le rôle de l’affect chez ces deux penseurs, nous pouvons comprendre les innovations qu’apporte le schéma historico-racial, en anticipant et en influençant les théories féministes du tournant affectif – surtout la théorie de Sara Ahmed au sujet des économies affectives. Le schéma historico-racial établit la constitution d’agentivités affectives sur une échelle sociogénique, et ces économies affectives expliquent à leur tour la possibilité d’une dégradation du schéma corporel en schéma épidermique racial, une disjonction de l’intentionnalité affective que Fanon appelle « tétanisation affective ».Quali risorse può offrire la nozione merleau-pontiana di schema corporeo a quella di Fanon? In primo luogo, mi propongo di mostrare che la teoria dello schema corporeo elaborata da Merleau-Ponty è allo stesso tempo una teoria dell’affetto: una teoria che non oppone la dimensione degli affetti all’intenzionalità, poiché li considera non solo come senso ma come forze, in quanto implicano delle agentività affettive piuttosto che costituire meri contenuti statici di senso. Intendo quindi sostenere che mettendo in evidenza il ruolo dell’affetto in questi due autori sia possibile comprendere il portato innovativo dello schema storico-razziale, che anticipa e influenza le teorie femministe legate all’affective turn – e in particolare la teoria delle economie affettive elaborata da Sara Ahmed. Lo schema storico-razziale afferma la costituzione di agentività affettive a un livello sociogenetico, mentre le economie affettive rendono conto della possibilità del collasso dello schema corporeo in uno schema razziale epidermico, una disgiunzione dell’intenzionalità affettiva che Fanon definisce “tetanizzazione affettiva”.


2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-373 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gholamreza Kordafshari ◽  
Mohammad Reza Shams Ardakani ◽  
Mansoor Keshavarz ◽  
Mohammad Mehdi Esfahani ◽  
Esmaeil Nazem ◽  
...  

Dizziness and vertigo are the most common complaints of patients that has a high economic burden on the health system. In modern medicine, treatment for dizziness and vertigo consists of chemical pharmacological therapy. Although these drugs are useful in controlling the disease, their side effects and inefficiency in full control of the disease require the use of complementary medicine in this field. Persian medicine consists of valuable experiences of Persian medicine scholars based on the theory of humors and temperaments. In Persian medicine, 2 types of disease are presented: dizziness ( sadar) and vertigo ( dovar). Persian medicine physicians expressed a different mechanism of action than modern medicine for these diseases. They believed that accumulation of abnormal humors, reeh (normal bloating) or causative pathologic substances, is the basic cause of sadar and dovar and that the most important treatment is cleansing the body, particularly the head from accumulated substances by bloodletting methods.


2020 ◽  
pp. 155-161
Author(s):  
Nicolas Bommarito

This chapter describes the role of solitude and meditation in Buddhism. Solitude does play an important role in many Buddhist practices. The problem one is out to solve is very difficult and the intellectual, perceptual, and emotional habits that stand in the way are deep-seated. This means that attacking the problem requires focused time and energy. Establishing some distance from the diversions and pace of life allows the space to confront the problem in a sustained way. Many practices involve not only sustained focus, but also a greater degree of perceptual sensitivity to what is happening in the body and mind. It is not just being away from distractions that helps, but being away from the demands of the social world. Buddhists, particularly those who specialize in meditative practices, can take retreats that last for years. For those just starting out, such long periods of solitude can be dangerous. There is a reason that solitary confinement can be traumatic: Being suddenly alone for long stretches without preparation is psychologically risky.


Author(s):  
Anna Marie Roos

Enclosed in a 1673 letter to Henry Oldenburg were two drawings of a series of astrological sigils, coins and amulets from the collection of Strasbourg mathematician Julius Reichelt (1637–1719). As portrayals of particular medieval and early modern sigils are relatively rare, this paper will analyse the role of these medals in medieval and early modern medicine, the logic behind their perceived efficacy, and their significance in early modern astrological and cabalistic practice. I shall also demonstrate their change in status in the late seventeenth century from potent magical healing amulets tied to the mysteries of the heavens to objects kept in a cabinet for curiosos. The evolving perception of the purpose of sigils mirrored changing early modern beliefs in the occult influences of the heavens upon the body and the natural world, as well as the growing interests among virtuosi in collecting, numismatics and antiquities.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146879762199030
Author(s):  
Phoebe Everingham ◽  
Pau Obrador ◽  
Hazel Tucker

In this article we map the 20 year trajectory of theorising embodiment in Tourist Studies. From its inception in 2001, embedded within the turn in the social sciences towards embodiment, Tourist Studies has paved the way in pushing the boundaries of theorising the links between embodiment, sensuality and performativity. Tourist Studies has opened up novel trajectories in tourism research away from the traditional focus on vision, towards multi-sensual analysis including the role of taste, smell, touch and sound. In this article we draw attention to these important contributions in understanding the body-practices and body-subjects within tourism, including work that utilises non-representational analyses, relational materiality, affect, more-than-representational and more-than-human. About 20 years on we remind readers of what theorising embodiment can bring to understanding encounters in tourism spaces, and specifically how attention to embodiment moves analysis away from fixed and static notions of culture and power, towards dynamic interplays between bodies and more-than-human modalities.


Author(s):  
Santiago Fouz-Hernández

This chapter looks at three actors who have gained weight for roles—Javier Bardem, Santiago Segura, and Antonio de la Torre—in order to discuss the role of fatness and fat masculinities in their performances. The substantial weight gain of each actor in all three films becomes a metric for understanding the way that their bodies are represented, filmed, and discussed. The chapter questions the limits of performance and acting, particularly when the body one inhabits is so drastically altered for a role. These physical alterations between the actors’ general appearance and their personal appearances, in turn, negatively mark the masculinity of their characters, the chapter argues.


Author(s):  
Vidya Y. Rao

wholesome management of disease states which include diet, habit and medicine for total reversal of disease. Skin is the largest part of the body which is the protective covering as well as a reflection of the internal system. In Ayurveda various dermatological diseases discussed with its etiopathogenesis, classification and management and also described the wide range of etiological factors for Skin diseases including dietary habits and psychosocial factors. Tvak is the reflection of rasa dhatu sarata, hence any derangement in rasa dhatu function directly implies vitiation of quality of skin. The review is to unveil the importance of rasa dhatu dushti assessment in tvak roga which can help in both treatment aspects i.e. nidana parivarjana and samprapti vighattana.


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