If someone is experiencing a physical symptom and you tell them it&#x27;s not actually physical, that is dismissing it.  If someone has whiplash from a car crash and you tell them the pain is just a result of their anxiety about the crash, that is dismissing their physical pain.  Because the pain actually has a cause independent of their psychological state that you are declining to acknowledge or treat directly.<p>More specifically, if the physical sensation is caused by something physical, then this is really quite dismissive (from grandparent):<p>&gt; there isn&#x27;t really a great model of care for people who won&#x27;t or can&#x27;t believe that their ailment is psychological and requires psychological treatment<p>Maybe it&#x27;s your problem that you won&#x27;t or can&#x27;t believe that the ailment <i>might not be</i> psychological.<p>&gt; You, however, do seem to be dismissing it, by saying &quot;nothing but anxiety&quot;. Anxiety is very real.<p>I am not dismissing anxiety in the least.  I know more about it than I would like to, and yes it is very real.