Medical & Clinical Research

Author(s): Marco Balenci

This review discusses the pair of opposites named introversion and extraversion by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung in its biological foundation and psychosomatic implications. Jung’s typology was the reference for Elida Evans’ book on cancer in 1926, which would be the basis of American psycho-oncology and of a holistic approach to cancer patients. It is shown that introversion and extraversion have been widely used in psychology and psychiatry, even without any reference to Jung. Moreover, these concepts have been used for somatic illnesses. In 1990, independently of each other, George A. Bonanno and Jerome L. Singer of Yale University (USA) and Marco Balenci of Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) conceived two similar comprehensive models of diseases - both in their physical and psychic aspects - based on the psychophysical balance of opposite attitudes. Persistent dualism in Western medicine may explain the lack of development of these models. Actually, this kind of model derives from a holistic view, which was advocated by George L. Engel in the United States, giving relevance to biopsychosocial factors. Despite the increasing discoveries of psychoneuroimmunology and developmental psychobiology can provide a new scientific impetus to the individual-as-a-whole, this perspective still has greater convergence with Eastern medicine.