I was working in psychiatry at one of those university medical centers, in a big city in the middle of a sparsely populated state. This 54 year old Caucasian farm wife had been referred to me by a surgeon — a rare state of affairs, since most of the surgeons I knew at that time and place did not believe in psychiatry and would not have referred a patient unless out of desperation.  No note, no phone call to the front desk of the psychiatry clinic, no nothing.  She just walked in and explained that the surgeon had basically kicked her out and said she was crazy. I asked her why they sent her.  Her answer is so burned into my consciousness that I can give it verbatim these many years later.

“It really bothers me that I don’t have a belly button.” Read more on Somatization Is Something To Talk About…