Delayed psychosomatic responses

Abstract A delayed overt somatic response to emotional trauma is described and illustrated by means of several case histories. In these patients, cardiovascular and gastrointestinal disturbances, as well as symptoms of psychomotor epilepsy, followed an emotional trigger. There was a latent period of four to twenty-four hours or more between the initial emotional stimuli and the overt somatic responses. An awareness of this latency period offers the opportunity for preventive therapy. The author assumes that the delayed pathophysiologic effect is based on the slow release of chemical substances from the brain and the pituitary. A similar mechanism was demonstrated in cats by Tonkikh, Il'ina and Teplov. Future studies should attempt to determine the behavioral and biochemical correlatives of such phenomena. Their elucidation would provide greater insight into the mechanisms of psychosomatic and psychiatric disorders.