This is a review of psychosomatic literature which touches on the relationship between patterns of illness and aspects of family interaction. An attempt is made to reconstruct the links in the chain which lead from family patterns of interaction to the occurrence or intensification of physical illness in family members. The central construct proposed is that of the “family emotional system.” The influence of emotional factors and certain types of critical events on the family system is traced in relation to the precipitation of both psychological and physiological patterns of disruption. The nature of the family system and its functioning are discussed and questions are raised in areas requiring further study and elucidation, particularly relating to the process of symptom distribution and specificity of illness.
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