Psychoanalytic approach to the understanding and treatment of a psychosomatic disorder: The case of burning mouth syndrome

Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) is described as a burning sensation of the oral mucosa, tongue, palate, lips, and pharynx. The importance of discussing such conditions as BMS is that it allows a reappraisal of the value of using psychoanalytic constructs as a means of understanding the mental representation, symbolization, and psychopathology of conditions of a psychogenic nature. Conditions such as BMS are illustrative of the psychoanalytic theories used to explain the origins of psychosomatic disorders. Psychotherapeutic experience with patients suffering from BMS is difficult because of their reluctance to recognize that psychological influences may have been instrumental in creating the symptomatology. A patient is encountered where it is possible to initiate and sustain a psychotherapeutic relationship with beneficial results. The psychotherapeutic experience also revealed a series of data that must be taken into account with regard to the nature of the symptoms.