Physical diseases that appear to be symbolic somatic representations of patients' personal meanings or individual 'stories' continue to be reported in the medical literature. The identification of a symbolic disease requires a clinical focus upon a patient's highly individual and nuanced meanings largely rendered invisible by the usual methodologies of clinical and research medicine, which has ...

OBJECTIVE Psychoneuroimmunology, which investigates the bidirectional communication between the central nervous system and the immune system, has been greatly advanced by the use of animal models. The objective of this paper is to describe animal models of disease that can or might be utilized to elucidate neural-immune interactions that alter pathogenesis. METHODS This paper reviews animal s...

We believe that the concept of the behavioral immune system (BIS) picks out an important set of phenomena, namely, the relationships between the immune system and disease-avoidant psychology. However, our enthusiasm is tempered by the recognition that (a) there are unresolved ambiguities in the BIS concept, which has been used in a variety of (sometimes inconsistent) ways; (b) many types of phe...

OBJECTIVE Although psychological modulation of immune function is now a well-established phenomenon, much of the relevant literature has been published within the last decade. This article speculates on future directions for psychoneuroimmunology research, after reviewing the history of the field. METHODS This review focuses on human psychoneuroimmunology studies published since 1939, particu...

Associations between personality and health and longevity are increasingly well documented, but the causal inter-connections are often much more complex than originally anticipated. Multiple causal pathways may operate simultaneously as the individual travels an idiosyncratic route across the life-span. Therefore, a straightforward model of personality, immunity, and disease may never be establ...

The acquisition and extinction of the conditioned suppression or enhancement of one or another parameter of antigen-specific and nonspecific defense system responses have been documented in different species under a variety of experimental conditions. Similarly, stressful stimulation influences antigen-specific as well as nonspecific reactions. Moreover, both conditioning and stressful stimulat...

The "stress analogy" is examined from the perspective of psychoneuroimmunology. Arguments are presented that do not support a linear and mathematical conception of psychosocial stress, as defended by the "stress analogy" concept. Implications for the study of schizophrenia are discussed.