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This editorial comments on treating patients with medically unexplained symptoms who resist psychological explanations for their condition. Somatisation can put a burden on health-care services and put the patient at risk for iatrogenic harm. Adele Ring and colleagues at Liverpool University studied the somatising process and found that doctors suggested physical interventions more often than patients. The evidence in the Ring study is discussed, including the issue of 70% of the patients asking for biomedical intervention. The patient and doctor's roles in the somatisation process are mentioned. The authors suggest that a comprehensive biopsychological approach should be used to explore medically unexplained symptoms.