PSYCHOLOGY – Unexplained physical symptoms may signal a psychological difficulty.
A mysterious evil. For sixteen years, Achille*, a Parisian forty-something, has been suffering from unexplained stomach pains. Spasms under the ribs prevent him from sleeping. He followed a whole battery of tests: scanner, ultrasound, MRI, fibroscopy, colonoscopy. He consulted a neurologist, a dietician, a naturopath, two gastroenterologists, three acupuncturists, did hypnosis sessions and even saw magnetizers. In desperation, he went on a “shamanic diet” in Portugal where he took ayahuasca, an Amazonian healing plant. But nothing helps. His pain persists.
Like Achille, millions of French people search in vain for an explanation for their pain. This diagnostic wandering can have several explanations: the patient has not yet come across the “right” practitioner, medicine is not specialized enough to understand his pathology… Third possibility, « the problem is not somatic at first glance »explains Antoine…
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