Psychosomatic Illnesses
What is psychosomatic?
By Christine Ferch
Psych: Mind
Soma: body.
Psychosomatic is the connection between our mind and body. Physical symptoms evolve from our mind and emotions, rather than a physical cause to the body, such as injury or infection.
For example, after sustaining a severe back injury and months of physio, my physiotherapist pointed out the levels of stress I had in conjunction with flare-ups from my injury. This is psychosomatic. My mental health was negatively impacted by stress; the stress also causes tension in the muscles in the body, which caused the injury to become inflamed and painful. When there was a reduction in my stress levels, there is no pain or numbness as the muscles surrounding the injury are relaxed as my mind is relaxed, my body is relaxed.
Psychosomatic illness can occur from aggravated emotional stress which manifests itself in physical pain or other symptoms. Depression has demonstrated a connection with psychosomatic illnesses as our body is weak from severe or chronic stress.
Stress: The Main Culprit
Stress is a significant factor with the onset of psychosomatic illnesses because it adverse effects our biological systems and our mental health. This is part of the reason why it is essential to be self-aware and be mindful of how much stress we are enduring in our lives. Some quick ways to determine your stress level is to identify:
Physical signs of stress
– Heart rate: racing heart
– Sweaty palms
– Tense Muscles
– Butterflies in the stomach
Body signs of stress can vary between individuals were the physical signs are consistent. Body signs are also different between males and females. Females will typically feel fatigued despite getting enough sleep, irritability, abdominal bloating, and changes in their cycle.
Men are more likely to experience chest pain, increased blood pressure and changes in their sex drive.
The stress, of course, varies by age as well and has many different causes based on our age as the stress endured by a six-year-old is different from a 17 year, which is different from 25 years old, who it is different from a 50-year-old.
Stress can also be positive such as the sense of fulfilment coming from accomplishments or doing something which scares you but provides excitement is good stress.
Bad stress, such as a move, a loss, significant life change is associated with psychosomatic illnesses. The adverse effects of harmful stress can take a toll on our mind and body, such as mental health diagnosis and pain in the body in locations of old injuries or new ones such as IBS or migraines.
The problematic part of psychosomatic illnesses is when an individual goes to the Doctor. They are looking for a physical explanation of the problem. If they are unable to identify one, people have commonly told them what they are experiencing is all in their head. It is not until the individual releases some of their stress, and emotional backlog, the pain or discomfort in the body begins to dissipate.
It is vital for the Doctor to identify your stress levels; then, he may identify this to be the cause of the psychosomatic experiences and refer the individual to a counsellor. This allows the individual to feel they are heard and validated with their experiences and will be able to have the support they need.
Psychosomatic illnesses can be treated!
To treat this illness, seeking a mental health professional to work through stress or emotional awareness has proven to be effective. In learning how to manage stress and being mindful when we feel the body or physical signs mentioned above present themselves. An individual will learn to stop and pause and reflect on what they are feeling in their mind and body. From here, we can engage in coping strategies such as journaling, body scans, emotional acknowledgement and muscle relaxation.
However, we do need the motivation to engage in coping strategies, and if they are in pain, we are not motivated. To address the pain or body first and then mind is a practical approach. Dealing with the pain in the body may mean visiting a physiotherapist, taking inflammation medication or massage to reduce the tension.
Coping
It is essential to learn how to cope as stress can occur at any time in our life, we can know things will be stressful, but stressful events do happen out of our control. So some quick tips on how to cope:
- Learn effective coping strategies for managing stress and emotions
- Learn to recognize when you are stressed so you can take a proactive approach to reduce tension in your body
- Avoid holding in your feelings, these carry weight on our shoulders too
- Identify unhealthy coping strategies such as gambling, shopping and substance use
- Confide in a friend
- Talk to a counsellor
- Engage in self-care (see blogs with the same title for more info on the topic)
- Eat a balanced diet
- Engage in forgiveness and let go of grudges, maladaptive thinking or relationships (see blogs with the same title for more info on the topic)
- Most important, be kind to yourself and engage in self-compassion (see a blog with the same title for more info on the topic)
For more information or if you have any questions, contact us at admin@ovcs.ca.
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