Addressing himself to methodological and phenomenological-substantive issues, Overbeck argues against the tendency to identify psychosomatic illnesses with the "pensée operatoire" of "alexithymia," that is, with physiopathological, meaningless reactions occurring on the basis of defective ego organization. With K. Brede and other authors, Overbeck advocates the counterthesis that psychosomatic symptoms are the products of meaningful and original ego achievements in the medium of a differentiated body and organ language.