Psychosomatic diseases: how are psychological disorders dealt with?
In recent years there has been a lot of talk about how much the mind and body are linked, and how much they influence each other.
Psychosomatics deals precisely with this interaction: it treats organic disorders of psychological origin, those diseases that do not originate directly from the body. In general, we can say that psychosomatics is a branch of medicine that studies the relationship between the mind (psyche) and the body (soma): it has in fact been ascertained that there are diseases not due to physiological reasons, but which are acted upon by the mind through the body. We all know that being calm helps our bodies to feel better.
Psychosomatic diseases refer to one of the most archaic defense mechanisms present in man. Psychic, affective or emotional distress is also expressed through the body. Emotions, feelings and difficulties, too painful to be experienced and felt, find in the body a container ready to receive them. This creates in the subject the idea of not having any kind of psychological difficulty, but only a medical discomfort that is thought to be treatable with some medicine.
See also
The most common psychosomatic diseases occur:
- in the gastrointestinal system (chronic gastritis, gastric hyperacidity, irritable or spastic colon, constipation, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea);
- in the respiratory system (bronchial asthma, dyspnoea, hiccups, or hyperventilatory syndrome);
- in the cardiovascular system (cardiac arrhythmias, tachycardic crises or arterial hypertension);
- in the skin system (psoriasis, pudic erythema - flushing of the cheeks from emotion -, acne, dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, itching, alopecia areata, excessive sweating);
- in the musculoskeletal system (headache, muscle cramps, stiff neck, myalgia or nervous tics);
- genitourinary system (severe menstrual pain, bed wetting, children's bedwetting, impotence or vaginismus).
In addition, stress, sadness, internal and external confusion and mild depressive states can affect the person's health on a general level. The difficulties in having a regular, if not absent, menstrual cycle and immune drops that leave our body more exposed to colds and flu during the cold period are an example. (Read here to learn more about stress and advice).
How to deal with psychosomatic illnesses
To manage a psychosomatic disorder you must first accept that you have a difficulty that can be linked to the mind and you must learn to ask for help. Therefore my advice is to:
- first do a thorough medical check to rule out that the cause is organic
- try to understand when the body symptom increases or decreases and if it is connected to particular life events (for example psoriasis on vacation decreases, but as soon as you return to the office it explodes)
- hypothesize a yoga path (read here to find out more) that helps us to get in touch with ourselves and maybe a sports path (running, swimming, kickboxing, modern dance) that stimulates our body to produce endorphins, the so-called " hormone of well-being ”, and leads to discharging us physically and mentally
- think of embarking on a path aimed at the search for well-being and awareness through mindfulness
- in the most difficult cases, in which the symptom prevents the subject from living peacefully (for example atopic dermatitis, sexual disorders, tachycardias, intestinal disorders, alopecias, absence of the menstrual cycle or psoriasis) it would be useful to undertake a path of psychological support that helps the person to get to know their own emotional and affective world in depth.
Stop and start thinking about yourself and those around you from a holistic and more complete perspective. Start changing things, think about your well-being: your body and mind will benefit the most!
