Somatization: Diagnosing it sooner through emotion-focused interviewing

somatization, the translation of emotions into somatic problems or complaints. It is well docu-mented—though still largely unrecognized in practice—that somatization accounts for a large proportion of office visits to primary care physi-cians as well as specialists,1,2 leading to unnec-essary testing, treatment, and hospitalization, disability and corporate financial loss,3 likely earlier mortality,4 and frustration for patients and physicians.5 No longer a diagnosis of exclusion Despite the burden somatization places on the medical system, the diagnosis is often made by indirect methods such as checklist, speculation, or exclusion when other problems are ruled out.