ABSTRACT

The term "psycho-somatic disorder" is in common use. The public understands fairly well the sort of illness to which people are commonly liable which is not simply a bodily disorder like scarlet fever or appendicitis, but in which the bodily disorder is partly or wholly related to the emotional life of the individual. It is generally accepted that life is difficult and that these difficulties can manifest themselves sometimes in a distortion of the way the mind works, and at other times in a distortion of the way the body works. The main thing is that the person shall be helped through the depression mood. There is one aspect of integration and of the general process of growth and development which particularly concerns the physiotherapist. Contrariwise, the physiotherapist will indeed be needed where the child has experienced a traumatic disruption of baby-care techniques.