The specificity criterium permits discrimination between being sick and illness. Psychosomatic medicine studies the aspecific aspects of being sick in the patient, scholastic medicine, e.g. psychiatry, the illnesses. Strain, compensated by stress strictu sensu, is the pathophysiology of being sick. By the specificity criterium, life-events biological markers, and psychotherapy are aspecific to disorders of axis I of DSM-III, i.e. psychosomatic; pharmacotherapy is specific to these disorders. The aspecific factors are interpreted as part of load, strain or stress. By applying the load, strain, stress and specific disorder model, one can indicate medically further investigations, care and cure. Liaison psychiatry can thus promote several psychosomatically important factors among non-psychiatrist physicians.