RSI — a psychogenic disorder?

It is clear that attitudes remain acrimonious and polarised on these matters. Dr Lucire continues in her view, even in the “endemic” period of recent years, that RSI is entirely a psychogenic disorder due to somatisation of psychosocial distress. As evidence, she relates the results of her PhD. This was a retrospective case study review of 100 (out of 319) randomly selected RSI patients who had been referred to her for an opinion between 1984 and 1991. She used census statistics for controls, and found that virtually all the patients had one or more personal problems or disruptive life events close to the time of seeking compensation. She also impressively reviews the historical forces of the time, highlighting the lack of correlation between workload and symptoms, and the persistent absence of objective abnormalities.