The Enigma of Functional Somatic Symptoms in the Practice of Medicine Prof N N Wig oration delivered by Prof Ajit Avasthi

Prof Ajit Avasthi Former Professor & Head (Retired), Department of Psychiatry PGIMER, Chandigarh talked about Functional Somatic Symptoms (FSS). He stressed that patients with FSS are ubiquitous in clinical practice and every clinician, irrespective of the specialty, sees more patients with FSS than any other ailment. Prof Avasthi talked about his experience of over 40yrs of handling patients with FSS. He talked about his research work and ways of handling patients with FSS which he evolved over several decades. He stressed that clinicians/psychiatrists should thoroughly assess patients with FSS, developing a therapeutic alliance, should use appropriate psychotherapeutics skills to handle them and to maintaining a good liaison with other medical specialists.