The symbolic and the physiological

René Devisch

pp. 69-86

in: Beatrix Pfleiderer, Gilles Bibeau (eds), Anthropologies of medicine, Wiesbaden, Vieweg+Teubner, 1991

Abstract

In Flanders, the northern part of Belgium, family physicians estimate that half of the epigastric complaints they face cannot be given a clear biomedical diagnosis. Heyrman (1986) reports that in 75% of the cases complaints are very vague and do not permit an unambiguous definition of their origins. The current psychosomatic approaches do not seem to be able to cope with these problems. Both diagnostically and therapeutically, they offer little to go by (Verdee 1986). I believe that a broader anthropological research may help here. The experience of studying a foreign culture yields new concepts, perspectives and techniques that may prove fruitful to the problem at hand.