What's Behind Psychosomatic Illnesses

Trauma injury, depression linked to such ailments

TUESDAY, Nov. 4, 2003 (HealthDayNews) -- People who suffer trauma injuries and show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression immediately after are more likely to be afflicted with psychosomatic ailments a year later.

The University of Washington School of Medicine study included 73 randomly selected patients who were hospitalized after having emergency trauma surgery. The patients were tested for physical symptoms, post-traumatic stress symptoms and symptoms of depression.

Researchers also recorded the patients' severity of injuries, parts of the body that were injured, and other medical conditions that could affect recovery.

While in the surgical ward, 31 percent of the patients had scores high enough to for a PTSD diagnosis and 42 percent had high depressive scores.

The study appears in the November-December issue of Psychosomatics.

The researchers suggest that identifying these patients while they're in the hospital may help them get treatment and reduce future psychosomatic symptoms.

"The discussion of symptoms with pragmatically oriented trauma center providers may facilitate early mental health screening and intervention procedures targeting the complexity of PTSD and depression, and somatic amplification," researcher Dr. Douglas F. Zatzick, says in a prepared statement.

"Similarly, mental health professionals working in the acute care medical setting may be able to identify patients who are amplifying somatic complaints," Zatzick says.

Each year, about 2.6 million Americans are hospitalized after suffering traumatic physical injuries. Between 10 percent and 40 percent of them suffer PTSD in the year following their injury.

More information

Here's where you can learn more about post-traumatic stress disorder.

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