Somatization and Psychosomatic Symptoms

This book, with contributions emanating from the 21st World Congress of Psychosomatic Medicine held in Seoul in August 2011, presents the latest evidence-based information about the mechanisms, assessment, and management of psychosomatic disorders from a biopsychosociocultural perspective. Somatization is a process characterized by excessive or inappropriate focus on physical symptoms that are medically unexplained. It is highly prevalent in primary care medicine, as somatoform (psychosomatic) disorders tend to be chronic and can cause significant personal suffering and social problems as well as financial burden.?  ?

Kyung Bong Koh, M.D., Ph.D. is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. He is the author of Stress and Psychosomatic Medicine and has contributed chapters to several textbooks. His many published articles concentrate primarily on psychosomatic medicine, psychoneuroimmunology, somatization, and stress. He has developed a number of psychological instruments, including the Stress Response Inventory. He has received three academic awards for his distinguished research on the relationship between anger and somatization, immunology in anxiety disorders, and neural activity in panic disorder and somatoform disorder from the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association. He played a leading role in founding and also served as president of the Korean Society of Psychosomatic Medicine. He worked as chair of the Scientific Committee of the Society and was the first editor-in-chief of the Korean Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine. In addition, he served as chairperson of the organizing committee of the international academic meetings, such as the 13th Asian College of Psychosomatic Medicine and the 21st World Congress on Psychosomatic Medicine held in Seoul, Korea. He is a member of the International College of Psychosomatic Medicine and on the editorial board of Biopsychosocial Medicine.