Somatic diseases and mental disorders: should they be differentiated?

Received: 08. 02. 2006. Accepted: 27. 07. 2006. The authors of DSM-III and DSM-IV, as �ell as some other reno�ned scholars (e.g., M. Roth, R.E. Kendell) argue that the terms somatic (physical) and mental disorder should be abandoned because “there is much that is physical in the socalled mental disorders, and much mental in the so-called physical disorders”. The author of this paper challenges such a vie�. He points that differences bet�een somatic diseases and mental disorders largely out�eigh their similarities. That is �hy, no matter ho� much they implicate an outdated mindbody duality, the terms somatic disease and mental disorder should be preserved.