Installment 12 of a series on case analysis
© Will Taylor, MD 2001 (bio)
The Story Board
Section 4
A Second Refinement of the Sketch - dimensions of a complete symptom
In previous installments I've discussed the Characterizing Dimensions of a complete symptom; both for physical symptoms, according to Boenninghausen:

and for symptoms in the mental/emotional realm:

The stages of Compensaton/Decompensation of symptoms in the mental/emotional realm may also offer an interesting sketch of the Totality:

In some cases, it may be useful to begin to organize the material on your Story Board according to these categories. Keep in mind though, that a case is like a coconut - not all coconuts are the same, and you might need to roll one around a bit before you know where it will crack. Allow the case to impose itself on your skills, rather than imposing your notions of structure on a case.
An alternate way of attending to the dimensions of a complete symptom, is to color-code symptoms on your evolving list. A green 'L' next to localities, a red 'S' next to sensations, a blue 'M' next to modalities, etc. can assist in examining your case for completeness, as well as for later stages of symptom-organization.
Below is an example of a case organized according the characterizing dimensions of its somatic symptoms:

And one organized according to the dimensions of mental/emotional compensation:

