Are complex somatic symptoms a sign of mental illness?

  Among the patients hospitalized in medical and surgical departments, some of them have chronic drowsiness in the head, shortness of breath or chronic cough, numbness in the limbs, fatigue and weakness, and pain in the back and abdomen, accompanied by chronic poor sleep, excessive dreaming, and difficulty in falling asleep. Patients have been seen in several hospitals, with no obvious positive findings in multiple examinations. Patients attribute their symptoms mostly to cervical spondylosis, cerebrovascular insufficiency of blood supply, or explain their symptoms with theories of Chinese medicine. The effect of taking a variety of Chinese and Western medicines is not good.  Detailed understanding of their living conditions, there are often some unsolvable unsatisfactory things, a more impatient personality, the pursuit of perfection in doing things, and more worries. Or worry about their body has a major problem. Patients draw the attention and concern of their families by being ill (usually not intentionally so), spend a lot of money on medical care, and of course cannot accept that they are mentally ill and cannot explain to their families. They are unable to accept or doubt their doctor’s diagnosis and do not accept psychotropic medication, but often take Dexedrine yet their condition improves significantly. These patients often do not take their medications as prescribed by their doctors, have poor compliance, and their condition is often prolonged.  For such patients, it is important to explain the relationship between emotions and physical discomfort to the patients and their families, and to do a good job in making them aware that mental illnesses have their own clinical manifestations like colds and inflammation, and are also a disease that requires standardized treatment.