title: [A characteristic, elicited from the medical history, which helps in the differentiation between organic and psychogenic symptoms].
abstract: It is often difficult to differentiate between the organic and psychogenic origin of symptoms. One helpful characteristic for deciding the organic origin of a symptom is its change in intensity and/or quality as a function of the motor behavior of the patient. It can be assessed while taking the history. This observation is illustrated with reference to three cases. Its theoretical background corresponds to FREUD'S statement about the real versus the intrapsychic origin of a perception: A perception (in our case: a symptom) is real (of organic origin) if it can be made to disappear (to change in intensity and/or quality) by means of a motoric action on the part of the subject (i.e. of the patient).
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D050723:Fractures, Bone / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology; D010386:Pelvic Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary; D010437:Peptic Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000293:injuries; D014628:Vagotomy
vernacular_title: Uber ein durch die Anamnese erfassbares Merkmal, das zwischen Symptomen organischer und psychischer Genese unterscheiden hilft.