TY - JOUR T1 - PSychiatry and the mysterious medical complaint AU - Goodwin DW Y1 - 1969/09/22 N1 - 10.1001/jama.1969.03160250040009 JO - JAMA SP - 1884 EP - 1888 VL - 209 IS - 12 N2 - When patients complain of pain or some other physical symptom, and no physical cause can be found, it is not enough to suggest that the symptom is functional or psychological. The physician should rule out three psychiatric disorders in which unexplained physical symptoms often dominate the clinical picture. These are hysteria, anxiety neurosis, and depression. Each is a definite syndrome with specific diagnostic criteria and a well-documented natural history. Hysteria and anxiety neurosis often can be managed as successfully by an internist or general practitioner as by a psychiatrist. Depression more often justifies a psychiatric referral. "Functional" symptoms which cannot be attributed to one of these syndromes often warrant further search for an organic cause. SN - 0098-7484 M3 - doi: 10.1001/jama.1969.03160250040009 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1969.03160250040009 ER -