E. Aguglia, B. Forti - Vol. 7, Settembre 2001, num.3
Testo Bibliografia
Summary Riassunto Indice
Le dimensioni della sofferenza psichica
The dimensions of mental distress
Human suffering is very difficult to be defined as to its psychological and
cultural forms of expression, as well as to its physiological and pathological
aspects. Mental distress has been most often studied as a reaction to stressful
events, which may be more or less severe and have a variable nature. Many studies
identified factors related to anxiety, depression, and somatic symptoms in the
psychological response to stressors. Somatic symptoms provide the most common
expression of distress worldwide, and usually parallel the expressions of emotional
distress. Human suffering has an adaptive meaning, and is based on a small set
of universal emotional responses. More complex culture-specific patterns are
built on these basic responses. While stress itself cannot be considered an
unequivocal criterion for mental distress, it pervades nearly every psychopathological
manifestation. The growing difficulty of the clinical approach in expressing
emotional distress may decrease the understanding of physiopathological processes.
