The Need for a Multidisciplinary Approach

This chapter explains the need for a multidisciplinary approach. School phobia is a disturbance that illustrates the problem of the boundaries of medical concern. Physical illness poses no such problems. Its recognition follows a well-defined practice. The patient complains of a symptom, and the doctor looks for and finds a sign confirming some altered body activity. He prescribes a treatment which, if successful, restores the patient to his original state of good health. The doctor's professional relationship is limited to the area of the patient's life that is concerned in the illness, and no unnecessary questions are asked. There is no problem as long as illness is thought of in terms of physical disturbance alone. When the disturbance is in the behavior, the thoughts or the feelings of an individual, boundaries of relevant questions and examinations are harder to draw.