Psychosomatic problems in adolescents. Why they occur, how to intervene.

Primary care physicians who are willing to trust their own intuition and abilities can adequately evaluate and treat many psychosomatic problems of adolescence. Most of these problems reflect normal developmental stress rather than major psychiatric disorders. Thus, obtaining an adequate history and listening to the patient before embarking on a "rule out organic disease" pathway are basic. As Sir William Osler said, "It is more important to know what sort of patient has a disease than what sort of disease a patient has." By applying this maxim, primary care physicians may find treatment of adolescents with psychosomatic disorders a rewarding, rather than a frustrating, experience.