Psychosomatic Medicine Faster Service from Outside North America
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Vaillant, G. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Vaillant, G. E.

Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol 40, Issue 5 420-431, Copyright © 1978 by American Psychosomatic Society

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Natural history of male psychological health, IV: what kinds of men do not get psychosomatic illness

GE Vaillant

This article reports on interrelationships between the medical and emotional health of 95 men who were prospectively followed from age 18 to 53. Fifty of these originally healthy men developed illness patterns sometimes called psychosomatic (ulcer, colitis, allergy, hypertension, musculo-skeletal disorders). These men were compared with the other 45 similarly studied men who never developed such illnesses. Although men who developed "psychosomatic" illnesses were more likely to seek medical or psychiatric attention, they exhibited only slightly more psychopathology. Both as children and as adults they had more physical illness of all kinds. They were less likely to indulge in vacations and athletics and more likely to use tranquilizers and excessive alcohol. Men with "psychosomatic" illnesses experienced a greater variety of somatic symptoms under stress, but the loci of these somatic symptoms shifted over time and were not significantly associated with the sites of psychosomatic illness. Premorbidly, the 20 men who were eventually to develop serious irreversible physical illness of any kind reflected far more psychopathology than the 45 men who developed psychosomatic illness.


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Acad. PsychiatryHome page
T. P. Beresford
Learning to Recognize Ego Defense Mechanisms: Results of a Structured Teaching Experience for Psychiatric Residents
Acad Psychiatry, December 1, 2005; 29(5): 474 - 478.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1978 by the American Psychosomatic Society