The Patient as a Communicator

Abstract

American medicine appears to some critics of the profession to have become largely “somatic.” “Words have been left behind in the rush to master chemistry. Emotions have been minimized in the reductionist effort to understand cells and genes,” according to one observer.⁽¹⁾ Yet the components of any patient’s condition include multiple biopsychosocial parameters, any or all of which may have an impact on how the patient copes with disease and responds to treatment. Indeed, as Day and Lolas have pointed out, “[F]undamental medicine has always been biopsychosocial.” ⁽²⁾.