History of Rhetoric in Mind and Body Relationship: Case of Migraine and Headache

Jeong, Seong Hoon

Abstract

The relationship of mind and body has stimulated extensive discussion for a long time. However, answers are ambigous and not forthcoming yet. Meanwhile, after the western medicine had embraced materialistic paradigm, conditions which cannot be substantiated by organic change were pushed out to periphery under the banner of "Medically Unexplained Symptoms". Medical experts endeavored to understand these mysterious illnesses based on the mind-body relationship and provided a frame of interpretation called Psychosomatic Medicine. This frame of interpretation had influenced not only the communication practice but also the health-seeking behavior and even the subjective experience of patients regarding their illnesses. The frame of interpretation had been drastically changed many times keeping pace with the socio-economic situation and the new scientific discoveries. Accordingly, body or mind was given differential importance by medical experts. For instance, when treatment modalities were lacking, mind was given excessive importance and patients were blamed for their unconscious motives, characterological weaknesses and for their lack of responsibility. In contrast, after the discovery of effective drug, mind was given no more attention and patients were no longer blamed for their contribution to suffering. In this paper, the historical change of the frame of interpretation for understanding migraine and headache was presented as an example. By this, it can be demonstrated how the frame of interpretation has modified the subjective experience of patients, and how the patients' responsibilities were viewed differently. This observation can help to realize the enormous influence of the frame of interpretation provided by medical experts.