THE MALADIES OF THE MIND

She was in her thirties, pale faced, tearful, agitated, , holding her head in her hands. I recognized her – It was her second visit with almost same complaints to the emergency department, in which I was working as a junior casualty medical officer.

While giving her history she told me that she had similar episodes of throbbing head ach over the past several years. She also told me of having multiple other symptoms, such as pain in her legs, the rapid beating of the heart and abdominal pain in the past years, which no doctor had been able to determine the cause. After taking history and doing physical examination - that was unremarkable - I came to the conclusion that she was suffering from a somatoform disorder, a mental illness. I consulted my senior Casualty Medical Officer and gave her a painkiller injection - a common practice in that department to give symptomatic treatment to such patients without bothering to know the cause. ...