title: [The communicative function of psychogenic physical disorders].
abstract: The goal of the present paper is to give a classification of psychosomatic theories on symbolic body functioning by applying two modern semiotic theories (Peirce, de Saussure). Hysterical symptoms have been regarded since Freud as symbolizations through the body. Psychovegetative disorders are symbolic representations of pre-oedipal conflicts at the level of M. Balint's basic faults. Psychosomatic symptoms in alexithymic patients cannot be regarded as symbolic; these patients, however, exert a form of negative communication that can be understood as a last resort prior to (psychotic) decompensation. It therefore seems necessary to differentiate which patients can best be described by which semiotic model.
authors.affiliation: Psychosomatischen Klinik, Universität Heidelberg.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Küchenhoff
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D009633:Nonverbal Communication; D011574:Psychoanalytic Theory; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D012803:Sick Role; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy
vernacular_title: Zur kommunikativen Funktion psychogener Körperstörungen.