The classification and nomenclature of 'medically unexplained symptoms': Conflict, performativity and critique

► Problems of classification and nomenclature are an important aspect of the conflictual dimension of 'MUS'. ► The terminological choices of social scientists in addressing the 'MUS' field play an active role in shaping this conflict. ► Social research and medical discourse collude in a disavowal of the relevance of the psychological dimension of 'MUS'. ► As a strategy for managing anticipated conflict, this disavowal is paradoxical and counterproductive in the long term.