What is a Psychosomatic Disorder?
Psychosomatic disease is an illness that affects and damages both body and mind. Another name for this disease is ‘Psycho-physiologic disease’ because the psychological issues directly or indirectly affect the physiological functions. For example, stress can either cause or worsen an already existing disease in a person.
Sometimes a mental factor has the power to generate physical symptoms where physical disease is not existing. For example, stress may have been the cause behind the stomach pain even though no physical illness existed prior to suffering from stress.
General Symptoms of Psychosomatic Disorder
All diseases can be psychosomatic to an intensity. The exact reason for the evolution of psychosomatic disorder is still undiscovered. There is a misunderstanding that physical symptoms of psychosomatic illness are all made up. They are all sincere, and it is always helpful to recognize them.
Stress, depression or anxiety are mostly the base causes of psychosomatic disorders. The common psychosomatic disorder symptoms are as follows:
- Feeling Nauseous
- Constipation
- Rapid Heartbeat
- Chest Pain
- High Blood Pressure
- Shortness of Breath
- Gas
- Diarrhoea
- Neck or Shoulder Pain
- Headaches
- Pain in Stomach
- Constant Fatigue
- Back Pain
- Limb Pain
The above symptoms are normally the result of physical conditions. For example, neck or shoulder pain is usually caused by muscle injury. In some cases, the same symptoms might be the result of some mental illness. Facing constant trouble in physical functioning without any physiological disease can be due to a psychosomatic disorder. If you are struggling with the above symptoms, and medications for physiological causes aren’t working, then you should consider getting it checked by a psychosomatic disorder expert.
Alternative Therapy for Psychosomatic Illness
If we work on the root causes of mental factors causing psychosomatic illness, the physical pains will automatically cease to exist. There are various therapies you can opt for to treat your psychosomatic disorder without any drugs.
Psychotherapy will guide you to deal with the stress and tension in your mind. It is a one on one talking session with your therapist. This therapy also helps the patient to learn about themselves, their thoughts, feelings and behaviours. An interactive session will help the therapist to study the mental health of an individual. The therapist may find out the mental health problem behind psychosomatic illnesses.
Psychoanalysis is a therapy used to cure anxiety and depression. It is a long process that heals the mind of a patient. It also involves analyzing the childhood memories and dreams, which are an essential factor of the client’s mental health. Curing anxiety and depression will help with the psychosomatic symptoms as well.
One would advise, to focus on cognitive behaviour therapy for this type of disorder as it involves the mind and the body. This therapy helps to find the cause and the coping mechanism to solve the problem. The patient will learn to set realistic goals and change the negative behaviour and thoughts to fulfil their aims. Reducing negativity in the person’s mind will automatically lead to treating psychosomatic diseases.
Past Life Regression is another therapy practised for treating anxiety and depression. It is similar to hypnotherapy. The process involves reliving past life traumas and facing them. The old memories of past lives can haunt an individual and become nightmares. It can lead to depression and stress. Due to this therapy, the patient can overcome fear and learn from past mistakes. After the mental illness is treated, a patient can overcome psychosomatic diseases.