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The unbearable lightness of somatisation: A systematic review of the concept of somatisation in empirical studies of pain (2009) by Crombez et al.

Discussion in 'Other psychosomatic news and research' started by ME/CFS Skeptic, Mar 8, 2020.

  1. ME/CFS Skeptic

    ME/CFS Skeptic Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    This is from the same Belgian researchers who recently published a critical review of pain catastrophizing measures, discussed here.
    https://insights.ovid.com/article/00006396-200909000-00011
     
  2. ME/CFS Skeptic

    ME/CFS Skeptic Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Interesting quotes:
     
  3. Peter Trewhitt

    Peter Trewhitt Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Good that one team of researchers at least is attempting to apply scientific rigour to the idea of somatising conditions.

    One wonders why the advocates of conversion syndromes almost universally eschew such intellectual rigour? It is not as if such analysis requires novel thinking or radical new ideas, it was basic undergraduate psychology forty years ago.
     
  4. Hoopoe

    Hoopoe Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    I think there is process of self selection: those who are intellectually rigorous find the concept problematic and so never become advocates.

    The question could also be phrased as "Why are there no smart people that believe in dumb ideas?"
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2020
  5. Hutan

    Hutan Moderator Staff Member

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    The sad thing about that abstract is that the paper was published in 2009 and it seems to have had very little impact on the BPS researchers who have continued to churn out studies with the same problems as were identified here.

    Nevertheless, I feel an urge to hug Crombez et al. Perhaps some virtual flowers are safer in these times.:emoji_bouquet:
     
  6. Sean

    Sean Moderator Staff Member

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    True. But they cannot say they have not been warned by their own colleagues.
     
  7. spinoza577

    spinoza577 Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    unbearable lightness -

    a saying I heard from my grandmother comes to my mind: Den een sin brood is den annern sin dood.
    Here it´s quite easy to translate into the English language: The one´s bread is the other one´s death.


    I think bad researchers really should be thankful that they have such a resilient subject like us.
     
  8. Subtropical Island

    Subtropical Island Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    I’m taking this on here (instead of a new thread) partly because this abstract deserves bumping and partly because it seems on the same general subject (somatisation - what does it mean?).

    I found this thread https://www.s4me.info/threads/alter...tom-levels-in-ibs-2021-grinsvall-et-al.24008/

    which starts with “Somatization, defined as the presence of multiple somatic symptoms,” and wondered if that was a bit of a vague thing to define (if you have more than one symptom you have somatisation? Or do you just have someone taking a good history in the primary or secondary survey?). So I looked it up on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatization

    and I got a number of things …mostly more clearly how this is a dangerous and unproven idea but then of course any theory needs to be tested so how does treatment go? So far, not very useful. And when you see what the treatment is that’s not a surprise: “Based on multiple systematic reviews,[13][14] the initial suggested treatment for somatic disorder is regular, scheduled outpatient visits (every 4–8 weeks) that are not based on active symptoms. These visits should focus on establishing a therapeutic alliance, legitimizing the somatic symptoms, and limiting diagnostic tests and referral to specialists.”

    They’re saying that the treatment is to meet the person regularly, irrespective of their symptoms, tell them you’re taking them seriously, and prevent them from getting any diagnostic tests nor referral to specialist. Gaslighting as a treatment?
     
    Last edited: Jan 11, 2022
    Michelle, Midnattsol, EzzieD and 7 others like this.
  9. MSEsperanza

    MSEsperanza Senior Member (Voting Rights)

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    Interesting that Christopher Eccleston (Cochrane) is a co-author -- on both papers.

    Edited to add:
    Thread on Eccleston's book 'Embodied: The psychology of physical sensation' (2015) here.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2022

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