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GEORGE A. GATES, MD
San Antonio, Tex

Arch Otolaryngol. 1985;111(9):631-632.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—The commentary by Sweetow¹ in the May 1985 issue of the ARCHIVES contained several misconceptions about the role of the physician in the management of patients with tinnitus. As an otolaryngologist who treats such patients, I would like to address these points.

First, Sweetow suggests such patients pose a "complex enigma" to us, that our reassurance is only "simple" and our therapy nihilistic. These assertions, unsupported by data, indicate a remarkable naiveté about what transpires within the patient-physician relationship. In reality, the options for management of patients with tinnitus are well known, and most otolaryngologists have a wellthought-through protocol to deal with the problem.² Undoubtedly, Sweetow's reliance, per force, on third-hand information is the cause of these inappropriate generalizations.

Second, Sweetow implies that cognitive therapy is something new; in fact, it is a technique very familiar to physicians experienced in gardenvariety psychotherapy. As the name . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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