Personality Styles of Patients Asserting Environmental Illness

Case reports and chart reviews of patients asserting environmental illness suggest that they suffer from psychiatric difficulties, typically somatization disorder. We assert that viewing these patients solely as somatizers or hysterical characters searching for a nurturant relationship will undermin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational medicine 1990-08, Vol.32 (8), p.678-681
Main Authors: Rosenberg, Samuel J., Freedman, Michael R., Schmaling, Karen B., Rose, Cecile
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Biological and medical sciences
Diagnosis, Differential
Environmental Pollutants - adverse effects
Environmental Pollutants - toxicity
Environmental pollutants toxicology
Female
General aspects
Hazardous Substances - adverse effects
Hazardous Substances - toxicity
Histrionic Personality Disorder - diagnosis
Histrionic Personality Disorder - psychology
Humans
Male
Medical sciences
Occupational Diseases - diagnosis
Occupational Diseases - psychology
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Paranoid Personality Disorder - diagnosis
Paranoid Personality Disorder - psychology
Personality Disorders - diagnosis
Personality Disorders - psychology
Somatoform Disorders - diagnosis
Somatoform Disorders - psychology
Toxicology
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Summary:Case reports and chart reviews of patients asserting environmental illness suggest that they suffer from psychiatric difficulties, typically somatization disorder. We assert that viewing these patients solely as somatizers or hysterical characters searching for a nurturant relationship will undermine the doctor-patient relationship. Rather, many of these patients are obsessive/paranoid characters searching for a medical explanation to their physical symptoms. This distinction is highlighted by contrasting the clinical presentations of hysteric/somatizing patients with those environmental illness patients demonstrating an obsessive/paranoid style. Further illustration is provided by a case report with psychological test data. Finally, treatment recommendations based upon this distinction are delineated.
ISSN:0096-1736
2332-3795