Psychosomatic Misdiagnosis Can Have Lasting Negative Impact on Patients

MONDAY, March. 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Chronic diseases misdiagnosed as psychosomatic can lead to long-term damage to patients” physical and mental well-being, according to a study published online March 3 in Rheumatology.

Melanie Sloan, Dr.P.H., from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and colleagues examined the impacts of psychosomatic and psychiatric misdiagnoses on patients with systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). The analysis included 3,396 participants in two SARDs cohorts.

The researchers found that >80 percent of patients reported that perceived psychosomatic and psychiatric misdiagnoses damaged their self-worth, and 72 percent reported that it still upset them. Compared with patients reporting no psychosomatic or psychiatric misdiagnoses, lower mental well-being and higher depression and anxiety levels were seen among patients reporting psychosomatic and/or psychiatric misdiagnoses, along with lower levels of satisfaction with every aspect of medical care. Misdiagnoses were associated with a significantly higher likelihood of underreporting symptoms and health care avoidance, but they were not associated with medication adherence.

“Although many doctors were intending to be reassuring in suggesting a psychosomatic or psychiatric cause for initially unexplainable symptoms, these types of misdiagnoses can create a multitude of negative feelings and impacts on lives, self-worth, and care,” Sloan said in a statement. “These appear to rarely be resolved even after the correct diagnoses. We must do better at helping these patients heal, and in educating clinicians to consider autoimmunity at an earlier stage.”

Two authors disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text