Chicago, Illinois is home to 11 practicing psychosomatic medicine doctors who have offices in 1 county and 8 zip codes, including zip codes 60612, 60611, 60674, 60603, 60644, 60640, 60616, and 60614.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Chicago has a population of 2,842,518, which gives it a specialist to resident ratio of 1 psychosomatic medicine doctor for every 258,410 residents.

Most people think that Chicago, because of its size and popularity, is Illinois’ capital city, but that distinction belongs to Springfield, home of the Abraham Lincoln Museum. Illinois has hundreds of museums, numerous yearly art and ethnic festivals, a lakeshore bordering Lake Michigan, and the many national forests and parks that offers visitors camping, horseback riding, biking, kayaking, and fishing. Chicago is home to the Sears Tower, the Shedd Aquarium, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Adler Planetarium, the Museum of Science and Industry, and other cultural opportunities and restaurants in the Navy Pier area.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Illinois has a population of 12,763,371. Of this population, 3,172,677 are under the age of 18 and 1,523,937 are at or above the age of 65.

Description

Psychosomatic medicine deals with physical disorders that are also called psychophysiologic disorders, or somatoform disorders. An illness may be considered psychosomatic when it seems to result from strong emotional conditions such as anxiety, trauma, depression, anger or guilt, rather than a physical cause. A physician who specializes in psychosomatic medicine will first test the patient to rule out physical causes. A psychosomatic illness will often respond to pain medication or other medical help, but psychological assessment is required to find the underlying cause of the illness.

Some psychosomatic illnesses are irritable bowel syndrome, upset stomach, muscle aches, tension headaches, panic attacks, colitis and ulcers, and even infertility. Psychological stress can reduce the effectiveness of the immune system and lower energy levels, allowing the body to create or worsen physical diseases. The way a person handles stress often affects the severity of psychosomatic illnesses.