Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • RESOURCES
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • BJGP Life
    • eLetters
    • Librarian information
    • Alerts
    • Resilience
    • Video
    • Audio
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
    • RCGP e-Portfolio

User menu

  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
British Journal of General Practice
Advertisement
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
    • RCGP e-Portfolio
  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Follow bjgp on Twitter
  • Visit bjgp on Facebook
  • Blog
  • Listen to BJGP podcast
Advertisement
British Journal of General Practice

Advanced Search

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • RESOURCES
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • BJGP Life
    • eLetters
    • Librarian information
    • Alerts
    • Resilience
    • Video
    • Audio
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
Letters

Doctors’ ongoing education, empathy, and continuous emotional and psychological support for patients might help to deal with their medically unexplained symptoms

Bernard Klemenz
British Journal of General Practice 2019; 69 (684): 332-333. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp19X704237
Bernard Klemenz
University Surgery, Portsmouth. Email:
Roles: GP Principal
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: bernard@doctors.org.uk
  • Article
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

I very much appreciate the article about medically unexplained symptoms (MUS), as MUS is a very important disease entity. An ongoing doctor–patient relationship is the key to a satisfactory outcome of managing patients with MUS. We have to acknowledge the patient’s symptoms and suffering by addressing their wishes of explaining their symptoms arising from their expressed physical and psychosocial concerns, giving continuing emotional support and empathy. Doctors should not make the situation worse, by stressing the fact that there is no serious underlying disease, or implying the fact that the patient is putting on or imagining their symptoms.1

We always have to have an open ear to new symptoms and review the diagnosis, as 10% of symptoms thought initially to be MUS turn out to be an organic disease, and patients with MUS can develop additional serious underlying diseases over time. Continuously reflecting on altering symptoms, avoiding diagnostic anchoring, and providing safety netting will help us not to overlook red-flag symptoms of possible serious underlying diseases.2

Educating doctors and medical students is paramount in addressing their anxiety, frustration, and self-perceived lack of competency in MUS. Further research will show us the best way to acquire the clinical receptivity and practical skills to care better for our MUS patients in the future.3

  • © British Journal of General Practice 2019

REFERENCES

  1. 1.↵
    1. Stone J,
    2. Wojcik W,
    3. Durrance D,
    4. et al.
    (2002) What should we say to patients with symptoms unexplained by disease? The ‘number needed to offend’ BMJ 325(7378):1449–1450.
    OpenUrlFREE Full Text
  2. 2.↵
    1. Burton C
    , ed (2013) ABC of medically unexplained symptoms (John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester).
  3. 3.↵
    1. Friedberg F,
    2. Sohl SJ,
    3. Halperin PJ
    (2008) Teaching medical students about medically unexplained illnesses: a preliminary study. Med Teach 30(6):618–621.
    OpenUrlCrossRefPubMed
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

In this issue

British Journal of General Practice: 69 (684)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 69, Issue 684
July 2019
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Or,
sign in or create an account with your email address
Email Article

Thank you for recommending British Journal of General Practice.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person to whom you are recommending the page knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Doctors’ ongoing education, empathy, and continuous emotional and psychological support for patients might help to deal with their medically unexplained symptoms
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from British Journal of General Practice
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from British Journal of General Practice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Doctors’ ongoing education, empathy, and continuous emotional and psychological support for patients might help to deal with their medically unexplained symptoms
Bernard Klemenz
British Journal of General Practice 2019; 69 (684): 332-333. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp19X704237

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
Doctors’ ongoing education, empathy, and continuous emotional and psychological support for patients might help to deal with their medically unexplained symptoms
Bernard Klemenz
British Journal of General Practice 2019; 69 (684): 332-333. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp19X704237
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Jump to section

  • Top
  • Article
    • REFERENCES
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF

More in this TOC Section

  • Two-tiered medicine: the increasing disparity in medical care in the UK
  • MRCGP Recorded Consultation Assessment — the hidden fourth construct
  • Prostate-specific antigen testing and opportunistic prostate cancer screening — CAP intervention
Show more Letters

Related Articles

Cited By...

Advertisement

BJGP Life

BJGP Open

 

@BJGPjournal's Likes on Twitter

 
 

British Journal of General Practice

NAVIGATE

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • All Issues
  • Online First
  • Authors & reviewers

RCGP

  • BJGP for RCGP members
  • BJGP Open
  • RCGP eLearning
  • InnovAiT Journal
  • Jobs and careers
  • RCGP e-Portfolio

MY ACCOUNT

  • RCGP members' login
  • Subscriber login
  • Activate subscription
  • Terms and conditions

NEWS AND UPDATES

  • About BJGP
  • Alerts
  • RSS feeds
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

AUTHORS & REVIEWERS

  • Submit an article
  • Writing for BJGP: research
  • Writing for BJGP: other sections
  • BJGP editorial process & policies
  • BJGP ethical guidelines
  • Peer review for BJGP

CUSTOMER SERVICES

  • Advertising
  • Contact subscription agent
  • Copyright
  • Librarian information

CONTRIBUTE

  • BJGP Life
  • eLetters
  • Feedback

CONTACT US

BJGP Journal Office
RCGP
30 Euston Square
London NW1 2FB
Tel: +44 (0)20 3188 7679
Email: journal@rcgp.org.uk

British Journal of General Practice is an editorially-independent publication of the Royal College of General Practitioners
© 2021 British Journal of General Practice

Print ISSN: 0960-1643
Online ISSN: 1478-5242