Mental images are characterised by their subjective resemblance to sensory impressions
as if 'seeing with the mind's eye' or 'hearing with the mind's ear'. Mental imagery
has a powerful impact on emotions, enhances subjective conviction about the possibility
of the occurrence of an imagined event, and increases the chance of enacting uopn
the imagined behaviours. Mental imagery has been associated with the severity of major
depressive disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, anxiety disorders including vomit
phobia, as well as bipolar disorders. To date, there has been no study that investigates
the relations between mental images and medically unexplained symptoms. The lecture
will provide preliminary data on mental imagery susceptibility in patients with medically
unexplained symptoms when compared with healthy subjects. An anecdotal example will
also be provided on how data on mental imagery susceptibility may be applied to enhance
current psychological interventions for medically unexplained symptoms.
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