ABSTRACT
One of the things that becomes apparent when a young doctor enters general practice, is his or her lack of expertise and training in coping with the vast volume of sickened and ‘dis-eased’ people who feel ill but are not in a medical sense clinically ill. Their ‘illness’ can emanate from a complex mix of psychological, interpersonal, occupational, social, emotional, anthropological, financial and even spiritual factors. In the face of this, some general practitioners retreat into a distancing clinical role, but others accede to being a signpost to those members of their team who can most help the patient. Patently, counsellors are called for. For example, Chester (1971) found that 67 per cent of female petitioners for divorce attended the doctor because they felt their health was affected, and that a further 19 per cent of this large sample could have done, but didn’t. Of the people who did attend, 25 per cent consulted their doctor for over two years and a further 16 per cent for between six months and two years.
