Functional or Organic? A Pointless Question

Perspective1 November 1969Functional or Organic? A Pointless QuestionMACK LIPKIN, M.D., F.A.C.P.MACK LIPKIN, M.D., F.A.C.P.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-71-5-1013 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptIs the patient's illness functional or organic? No question is asked more often in medical clinics. When students or clinicians are prodded about the sense in which the terms are used, the definitions usually consist of a groping for other language. "Organic" seems to be equated with the presence of a demonstrable structural alteration or established biochemical change, preferably with a specific cause. "Functional" seems to imply "psychogenic" or "psychologically determined" or "neurotic."But the greater the care used in examining the two terms, the less meaning they seem to have. Indeed, they bring to mind Goethe's wry comment that...References1. FRIEDENWALD J: Cited by COHN, A. E., in Minerva's Progress. Harcourt, Brace & Co., New York, 1946, p. 8. Google Scholar2. LIPKIN M, ALMY TP, and KIRKHAM FT: The formulation of diagnosis and treatment. New Eng. J. Med. 275: 1049, 1966. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar This content is PDF only. To continue reading please click on the PDF icon. Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: MACK LIPKIN, M.D., F.A.C.P.Affiliations: New York, New YorkFrom the Department of Medicine, Cornell University Medical College, New York, N. Y.Requests for reprints should be addressed to Mack Lipkin, M.D., 115 East 61 St., New York, N. Y. 10021 PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Metrics Cited byLack of correlation between central sensitization inventory and psychophysical measures of central sensitization in individuals with painful temporomandibular disorderChronic Pelvic Pain and the Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions in WomenMonoamine system disruption induces functional somatic syndromes associated symptomatology in miceUmweltmedizinische SyndromeThe Development and Psychometric Validation of the Central Sensitization InventoryOrganic disordersCentral Sensitivity Syndromes: A New Paradigm and Group Nosology for Fibromyalgia and Overlapping Conditions, and the Related Issue of Disease versus IllnessSchimmelpilzbelastung in Innenräumen – Befunderhebung, gesundheitliche Bewertung und MaßnahmenFibromyalgia and Overlapping Disorders: The Unifying Concept of Central Sensitivity SyndromesPatients Who Amplify Bodily SensationsARTHUR J. BARSKY III, M.D.The Problem Patient Evaluation and Care of Medical Patients with Psychosocial DisturbancesDOUGLAS A. DROSSMAN, M.D.A Clinical Index of Disability Due to Chronic Asthma Tested During a Trial of Cromolyn Sodium TreatmentWhat One Internist Does in His Practice Implications for the Internist's Disputed Role and EducationJOHN F. BURNUM, M.D., F.A.C.P.Groups, Spouses and Hospitalization as a Trial of Treatment in Psychosomatic Illness 1 November 1969Volume 71, Issue 5_Part_1Page: 1013-1017 ePublished: 1 December 2008 Issue Published: 1 November 1969 PDF downloadLoading ...