Psychological medicine

Abstract

Introduction. It is known that it is possible to improve healthcare by paying more attention to psychological aspects of diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental conditions. The study and practice of such factors is called psychological medicine. The aim of this paper was to provide contemporary aspects of psychological medicine and to emphasize its contributions to clinical practice. Material and Methods. A review of the literature on psychological and psychosomatic medicine was performed using Medline and manual search. Results. The main goals of psychological medicine are comprehensive assessment of psychological factors affecting the etiology, course and outcome of illness, biopsychosocial consideration of patient care, as well as integration of specific interventions in prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of patients. We need to emphasize that due to clinical limitations, in terms of current separation of mental and physical healthcare, the treatment of many health conditions in which psychological factors are significant, is still insufficient. Conclusion. Because of its importance to patients' well-being, psychological and psychosomatic medicine should to be an integral part of clinicians' knowledge across all specialties.