Psychosomatic Medicine

(1) Overview

Psychosomatic Medicine mainly treats diseases generally referred to as psychosomatic disease. Psychosomatic disease refers to “those physical disorders such as headache, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and irritable bowel syndrome where psychological and social factors such as stress are closely involved with onset and progression”. The department focuses on psychosomatic disease that is physical disorders, collaborating with other departments to approach the disease and provides more appropriate treatment.

(2) Policy

The hospital’s Psychosomatic Medicine department is characterized by having beds for hospitalization in the psychiatric ward, and actively conducts treatment of patients with eating disorder and psychosomatic disease with underlying psychiatric disorder.

(3) Our Strengths

Causes of Psychosomatic Disease

Causes of psychosomatic disease include psychological and social factors. Psychological and social factors include stress from interpersonal relationships, work-related stress, the patient’s personality, lifestyle, and behavioral patterns.

Treatment of Psychosomatic Disease

Treatment consists of combining psychotherapy with drug therapy.
Treatment involves thinking together of ways to alleviate the stress the patient is feeling and correcting lifestyle and behavioral patterns. In addition, drug therapy is conducted as needed with antianxiety medication, antidepressants, and Chinese herbal medicine.

Standard treatment in accordance with treatment guidelines such as blood sugar control for diabetes mellitus and drug therapy for bronchial asthma is conducted by the clinical department specializing in that disease, even if the disease (diabetes mellitus or bronchial asthma, etc.) is a psychosomatic disease.

Of physical disorders such as diabetes mellitus and bronchial asthma, those diseases where psychological and social factors such as stress are not closely tied to the onset and progression of the disease are not called psychosomatic disease and are not treated by the department.

Only when psychological and social factors such as stress are determined to be closely tied to the onset and progression of the disease (physical disorder) will the disease be diagnosed as a psychosomatic disease, and treatment will be conducted simultaneously by the department and the clinical department specializing in the disease.
The department does not offer specialized counseling by a psychologist.

Physical Disorders That Are Often Diagnosed as Psychosomatic Disease

• Respiratory: Bronchial asthma
• Cardiovascular: Essential hypertension, orthostatic dysregulation, ischemic heart disease
• Gastrointestinal: Irritable bowel syndrome, functional dyspepsia, gastroduodenal ulcer
• Endocrine/metabolic: Diabetes mellitus, obesity, hyperthyroidism
• Nervous/muscular: Tension headache, migraine
• Dermatological: Chronic urticaria, atopic dermatitis

Diseases Treated in Psychosomatic Medicine

Focusing on psychosomatic disease, the department treats eating disorder (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, etc.), mood disorder, and anxiety (anxiety disorders).

Message for Our Patients

Outpatient consultations are by appointment only both for initial consultations and follow up consultations. Please ensure that you make an appointment for outpatient consultations.