The Network Paradigm: New Niches for Psychosomatic Medicine

Abstract

Psychosomatic medicine, as a philosophical frame and practical approach of the diagnostic and therapeutical agency, had been undergone several renewals and reframing in the past. We overview the history of psychosomatics and map its branches. Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic frameworks, the Engelian biopsychosocial concept, the paradigm of behavioral medicine, the clinical psychophysiological research background, the clinical fields of PNI, psychocardiology, biobehavioral oncology, the so-called mind-body medicine, and stress medicine frameworks reflect a converging pluralism. Psychoneuroimmunology offers a comprehensive framework to analyze key issues of psychosomatics in a social neuroscience framework and to demonstrate the significance of the network approach in bridging the gap between psychosomatics and biomedicine. Network medicine creates a shared denominator for analyzing socioeconomic, interpersonal, life event-based narrative factors together with psychophysiological features of the clinical and health psychological problems and promotes convergence of psychosomatics, biomedicine, and lifestyle medicine, too. On the other side, psychosomatic medicine as a particular professional medical specialization is not universal at all. In Europe, one can find such specialization only in Germany, while psychotherapy applied by somatic experts is practiced in wider circles. Finally, we explore the new niches for psychosomatic orientation offered by integrative frameworks like lifestyle medicine and network medicine.