PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ventres, William
TI  - PRESSS: A New Patient-Centered Name for an Old Problem
AID  - 10.3122/jabfm.2021.05.200647
DP  - 2021 Sep 01
TA  - The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
PG  - 1030--1032
VI  - 34
IP  - 5
4099  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/34/5/1030.short
4100  - http://www.jabfm.org/content/34/5/1030.full
SO  - J Am Board Fam Med2021 Sep 01; 34
AB  - There are many words for what physicians commonly refer to as Somatoform Disorder. However, none is particularly patient-centered; to greater or lesser extent, they are all framed by medical jargon. Based on his experience as a seasoned clinician, the author suggests family physicians consider adopting the word PRESSS—an acronym for “Physical Reaction to Emotional Stress of Some Sort”—when describing and explaining to patients with Somatoform Disorder the cause of their suffering. Using examples from practice, the author notes how PRESSS combines simplicity, ambiguity, and directness in one non-stigmatizing, patient-focused word. Combined with a patient-centered manner of communication, the use of PRESSS can help create the kind of shared therapeutic presence that is so important when attending to patients who experience the bothersome, unrelenting symptoms these conditions suggest.