Psychosomatic diseases. Symptoms of psychosomatic disorders

The connection between the psyche and the body has been proven for a long time. The human brain is one of the main mechanisms for the coordinated functioning of the entire life system.

There are diseases that originate from the head. What are psychosomatic diseases, who is predisposed to them, what are their characteristics, causes and how to deal with them are key questions in science.

Psychosomatic diseases originate from the subconscious and respond to the body in the form of a somatic illness.

What is psychosomatics of diseases

Diseases of this nature are studied by medicine at the intersection with psychology. Psychosomatics as a science teaches people to find the true origins of their illnesses within themselves. Since the time of Socrates, doctors and healers have known that the body, soul and mind are a single mechanism.

Psychosomatics is the physical manifestation of emotions.

Psychosomatic diseases became an official class of diseases in the middle of the last century. Treatment is based on the principle of healing the body by eliminating oppressive psychological problems.

How do psychosomatic illnesses differ from ordinary illnesses?

The understanding that the disease is psychosomatic in nature comes when drug treatment is powerless/little effective. The disease subsides for a while, but returns during emotional outbursts, stressful situations or depressed physical condition.

The beginning of a psychosomatic illness is a psychological impulse. As a rule, this is a strong emotional shock (loss, betrayal, divorce, illness of loved ones). The disease, which occurs as a result of an emotional failure, subsequently develops into a chronic form without timely comprehensive treatment.

Treatment includes psychological assistance(consultation, psychotherapy, correction) and medications.

What diseases are classified as psychosomatic diseases

Almost all diseases can be caused by a worn out/traumatized psyche, so there is no specific/definitive list.

• gastrointestinal diseases; disorder eating behavior(bulimia, obesity, anorexia);
• skin diseases;
• cardiovascular diseases;
• disturbance in the respiratory system;
• endocrine diseases;
• hypertension;
• gynecological problems;
• infectious diseases;
• oncology;
• problems with the musculoskeletal system;
• sexual disorders;
• headaches of any etiology;
• psychovegetative dysfunction.

The internal problem comes out through the weakest organ.

Main manifestations of psychosomatics

There are a sufficient number of manifestations of psychosomatics:

• blood pressure surges;
• cardiopalmus;
• pain in the back, head, neck, stomach or heart area;
• difficulty swallowing reflex, throat spasm;
• frequent dizziness;
• increased body temperature;
• short-term numbness of the limbs;
• periodic visual impairment;
• leg cramps;
• state of fatigue;
• hair loss;
• violation of the structure of the skin (including allergic reactions).

These individual symptoms are similar to the onset of a physical illness.

Who is at risk for psychosomatic problems

No one is immune from psychosomatic diseases; life dictates rules that drive a person into a frantic rhythm and force him to remain in tense states for a long time. It all depends on the structure of a person’s thoughts, attitudes and ability to resolve intrapersonal conflicts.

• perceive adversity as defeats rather than experiences;
• failure to adapt;
• undeveloped stress resistance;
• an undeveloped (so necessary) feeling of love for oneself and others;
• inadequately low self-esteem – fear of others’ assessments, inability to express experiences, shyness, codependency. Resistance to change, even apparently positive ones;
• focusing on your internal negative experiences - lack of a sense of humor and joy, chronic anxiety, pessimism, depression, apathy;
• authoritarianism towards oneself and others;
• setting difficult/unattainable goals;
• poor satisfaction of biological needs (sleep, food, rest).

There is no escape from stress, it is important to remember the main rule - if you cannot change the situation, change your attitude towards it.

Psychosomatic diseases. Causes

Psychologists say that a person can destroy himself if he ignores his own needs and suppresses desires. Then the body responds with a violent protest, resulting in illness. A number of reasons lead to this process:

1. Stress, trauma and emotional burnout. Stress is a major source of health problems. Chronic exposure to stressful situations constantly keeps a person in a tense state, with each negative scene/reaction dealing a new blow to a weakened immune system. When the body becomes exhausted, it shoots out a physical manifestation, giving a distress signal.
2. Inability to experience emotions. When a person is unable/allows himself to accept and experience his own negative emotions, they have nowhere to go and result in physical illness.
3. Getting stuck in negative emotions. When a person does not let go of pain, resentment, disappointment, feeding them with memories, the body wears out. The same situation occurs as during stress - the system signals a malfunction.
4. Motivation for illness. It sounds strange, but people are familiar with situations where personal issues can be resolved through illness. Moreover, the disease is not far-fetched, but real, caused by one’s own subconscious.

These causes cause harm if ignored. own feelings. Everything is good in moderation and on time!

Psychosomatics in men

Psychosomatics in men is associated exclusively with an incorrect attitude towards oneself and the opposite sex (resentment, anger, irritation, claims). This results in diseases of the genital organs (testicles, penis, prostate), impotence, premature ejaculation during sexual intercourse.

Summary psychosomatic table

This is not the entire list of diseases/causes. Psychosomatics is capable of things that people are not even aware of.

What to do with psychosomatics

Psychosomatics is taken seriously.

1. Monitor and be aware of your own feelings, thoughts and emotions, respond competently to stressful situations - they trigger defense mechanisms, warning of danger.
2. Learn to live in harmony with your own emotions, become a master of them, periodically letting them out for a walk.
3. Accept your own past, thank it for the experience and let it go. Don't be afraid of the future, enjoy today.

An experienced psychologist will provide assistance. Psychology includes a large number of techniques and approaches with the help of which a person is able to painlessly resolve his own problems and complete unlived/unacknowledged situations.

How to heal yourself

The first thing to do is accept it. Accepting a problem/illness means getting rid of it halfway.

Healing from psychosomatic illness begins with the harmonious interaction of consciousness with the soul. Let acceptance into your consciousness, and harmony, strength and love into your soul.

Understand that life consists of different moments - grief and joy, laughter and tears, bad people and those for whom you live. There are situations that cannot be changed; they are not subject to either circumstances or time...

The only thing that matters is what's inside us. It is important that we are in harmony with our own deepest feelings and can listen to them in time. Be aware of your own habits, don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. Breathe deeply, know how to relax, notice the joys in the little things, arrange emotional fasting days.

The main thing is to change your own worldview. Be happy!

Psychosomatic disorders are a number of diseases, the occurrence of which is associated with the interaction of physiological and mental factors. Data painful conditions are mental disorders that manifest themselves in the form of physiological pathologies. Psychotraumatic situations and the experience of acute psychological trauma are responsible for the development of this type of disease.

People first started talking about this disease at the beginning of the last century, and it was then that the founder of the psychosomatic movement, Franz Alexander, identified a group of characteristics characteristic of this disease. mental disorder somatic diseases, which later became known as the “Chicago Seven”. It includes: duodenal ulcer, neurodermatitis, essential hypertension, thyrotoxicosis, ulcerative colitis, bronchial asthma, rheumatoid arthritis.

All these neurotic personality disorders in medicine are called diseases of civilization and are considered stress-dependent. In recent years, such diseases have begun to gain popularity among children and adolescents. Thus, according to statistics, out of 40 percent of those who contacted a pediatrician, 68% were diagnosed with a psychosomatic disorder.

Symptoms

The most common signs psychosomatic disorders Personalities include complaints of pain, and most of the time the examination does not reveal any somatic disease. In some cases of the disease, diagnostics show minor changes in test parameters. The most common are neurotic pains:

• in heart;
• in the muscles of the limbs;
• in the chest;
• under the shoulder blade;
• in back;
• in a stomach;
• headache.

In addition, patients may complain of:

• cardiopalmus;
• heaviness in the back;
• heaviness in the limbs;
• hot flashes or chills;
• nausea;
• problems with sex;
• suffocation, shortness of breath;
• bowel disorders;
• feelings of weakness;
• fatigue;
• feeling of a lump in the throat;
• dizziness;
• nasal congestion that occurs or worsens during stressful moments;
• numbness in different parts bodies.

Factors influencing the development of the disease

The reasons for the development of psychosomatic disorders are hidden in the stress experienced and the unfavorable emotional environment in the family or team. According to Leslie LeCrone's classification, the causes of PSD can be:

• Conditional benefit or motivation. In this case, they talk about diseases that are “beneficial” to their owner. The person is not simulating; the symptom is formed on an unconscious level. A person actually feels pain and signs of physical illness. However, the symptom of a disease serves a specific purpose.
• Conflict. Internal confrontation between different parts of the personality can lead to PSD. The struggle usually occurs on an unconscious level, since one of the sides of the personality is hidden and wages a “guerrilla war.”
• Experience of the past. IN in this case Neurotic diseases are provoked by traumatic experiences, including childhood experiences. Any situation that happened in the past retains its emotional trace and is waiting in the wings to process this experience.
• Language of the body. This symptom reflects the state of a person, which we sometimes express in the words “my hands are tied”, this is “my headache", "the heart is compressed." Under certain circumstances, these neurotic expressions manifest themselves in the form of somatic disorders: migraine, heart pain, etc.
• Suggestion. In some cases, personality disorder can occur if a person is told that he is sick. This process occurs on an unconscious level; information about the possible presence of an illness is perceived without criticism. Perhaps this is the case when people with authority talk about the presence of signs of illness. In addition, voluntary or involuntary suggestion of symptoms of the disease is possible at a time of emotional intensity.
• Identification. In this case, PSD occurs due to identification with a person who has a similar symptom. This process occurs in the case of emotional closeness of a person with a patient who may die. The fear of losing a loved one or a loss that has already occurred triggers the PSR mechanism.
• Self-punishment. In cases with real, but most often imaginary guilt, the psychosomatic symptom of the disease acts as an unconscious scourge. Self-punishment, despite the fact that it complicates life, makes it easier to experience guilt.

Modern medicine suggests taking into account the totality of reasons contributing to the development of pathology. This list includes the following factors:

• hereditary predisposition (gene mutations);
• neurodynamic changes that suggest the accumulation of anxiety;
• personality traits: workaholism, infantilism, certain temperamental traits, underdevelopment interpersonal relationships, isolation, the predominance of negative emotions over positive ones, difficulties in adaptation;
• influence of parents' personality.

According to psychologists, the symptoms of PSD come down to somatic manifestations of anxieties and fears stored in memory from childhood.

Types of RPS

The classification of psychosomatic disorders involves division into several groups. Signs of the disease are grouped according to the meaning of symptoms, pathogenesis and functional structure. Based on this, in practice the following groups are distinguished:

1. Conversion symptoms. In this case, a person unknowingly shows signs of a disease that he actually does not have. Typically, such a disorder manifests itself in cases where a neurotic conflict tries to resolve an existing disagreement or rejection of an individual’s position in the immediate environment. Characteristic features PSD are neurotic disorders of voluntary motor skills and sensory organs: pain, “crawling sensations,” psychogenic vomiting or deafness, etc.
2. Functional syndromes. In such cases, violations affect individual organs. The patient complains of symptoms associated with respiratory dysfunction, of cardio-vascular system, gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary system. For example, violations heart rate, discomfort in the pelvic area, neurocirculatory dystonia, etc. This condition is accompanied by sleep disturbances, mental fatigue, depressive symptoms, anxiety, decreased concentration, etc.
3. Psychosomatosis. This type of PSR is based on a primary bodily reaction to a conflict experience. The choice of the affected organ is influenced by the individual’s predisposition to a particular disease. The list of diseases in this case includes the “classic seven” or “Chicago seven”.

This list has now been updated the following diseases: type 2 diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, obesity, thyrotoxicosis and behavior. In addition, practitioners suggest adding to this list migraines, radiculitis, infertility, vitiligo, chronic pancreatitis, psoriasis, intestinal colic, dyskinesia of the gallbladder.

According to ICD-10, the following are distinguished:

• undifferentiated;
• somatized;
• pain;
• conversion;
• unspecified;
• hypochondriacal;

Psychosomatic pathologies in children and adolescents

The development of psychosomatic disorders in childhood is associated with the following personality characteristics: problems of adaptation to new conditions with a predominance of negative emotions, low threshold sensitivity, etc. In addition, people who are closed, distrustful, and prone to easy occurrence frustrations and high intensity reactions to external stimuli, anxious children.

The degree of influence of stress on a child’s personality is determined by the depth of awareness of the situation and personal characteristics. Unfavorable family factors are of particular importance. Children have a special connection with their parents, and therefore changes in relationships or problems among parents can provoke mental disorders in children. According to psychologists, a child with ASD is a sign of a dysfunctional family situation.

Psychosomatic disorders in children and adolescents may be the only sign of disorganization in a family that seems prosperous at first glance. Despite such statements, it is much more difficult to determine the factors that provoke psychosomatic pathology in young children. During this period, children perceive disruptions in their relationship with their mother most acutely. Therefore, the cause of illness in young children is the mother’s unproductive behavior.

One of the reactions of infants to a breakdown in contact with their mother may even be a stop in development. Behavioral disorders on the part of the mother can cause such manifestations as infant eczema, refusal to eat, vomiting, colic, etc. Correction of psychosomatic disorders in this case should involve working with the mother.

Treatment of the disease should be accompanied by psychological support from the family.

Fears can become a bodily manifestation, which in turn are a form of release of internal tension created by stress.

The most common fears are:

• Fear of death, which, as we grow older, degenerates into a fear of everything new and uncontrollable.
• Fear of loneliness, which is essentially the fear of losing a mother. It is accompanied by an acute feeling of one’s own helplessness.
• Fear of loss of control is expressed in the fear of doing something condemned. Arises as a result of strict upbringing.
• Fear of going crazy.

Psychosomatic disorders occur more often in adolescents than in young children. The causes of the disease are usually hidden in disturbances in family relationships, loss of close contact and trust, and problems in relationships with peers. Less often acute disorder may be caused by hereditary predisposition and actual somatic disease. It is customary to include excessive stress in the category of stressors educational activities, worries about grades, etc.

The sensitivity to these factors varies among adolescents and depends on their significance. Before the onset of the disorder itself, pre-morbid conditions occur. These manifestations are usually considered to be functional norms. At this moment, even a very good specialist will not determine the predisposition to pathology. However, long before signs of PSD appear, children exhibit symptoms of emotional stress.

In adolescents, this tension manifests itself in the form of mental discomfort and anxiety. Along with these signs, children exhibit the following symptoms of the disease:

• pre-neurotic – tics, insomnia, causeless crying, pathological habits;
• vegetative dystonic – dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, headaches, palpitations;
• somatic – vomiting after eating, obesity, episodic skin itching, thirst, bulimia, skin rashes.

The combination of these signs, which are accompanied by emotional stress, indicates a pre-morbid state in children. When PSD develops, the symptoms are varied and can involve any organ. Therefore, diagnosis must take into account all psychosomatic reactions and the frequency of their manifestation. In cases of PSD, pain, dizziness, vomiting and other symptoms occur immediately after experiencing stress: a dog attack, parental punishment, etc.

When making a diagnosis, for the purpose of diagnosis, psychological methods are additionally used to identify the anxiety of the subject: Luscher test, family drawing, personality questionnaires (Ketela, Eysenck), method of unfinished sentences, Reynolds child anxiety test, etc. After diagnostic procedures, appropriate treatment is prescribed.

Treatment and prevention of PSD

In modern practice, treatment and prevention of psychosomatic disorders involves different kinds psychotherapeutic methods and alternative medicine. The most effective way The simultaneous use of medication and psychotherapy is recognized. Treatment of the disease involves the use of antidepressants, stress protectors, anxiolytics, psychostimulants, behavioral correctors and tranquilizers.

Psychotherapy for psychosomatic disorders involves the use of individual and group techniques and training aimed at developing personal growth, increasing self-esteem and relieving anxiety. In some cases of illness, it can be stopped by a statement from an authority figure for the sick person.

Treatment and prevention of PSD in children involves, first of all, the creation of comfortable conditions. Therapy methods are aimed not only at getting rid of somatic and psychopathological symptoms, but should also correct the impact of social psychological factors. In this case, parents of a child with PSD are recommended to receive psychological help. The task of a psychologist when working with parents comes down to developing in adults the ability to create productive, emotionally warm relationships with children.

Modern methods make it possible to completely rid a child of such disorders. However, this requires timely diagnosis, identification of psychosomatic problems and qualified treatment.

In addition, in this case, working with the child’s immediate environment takes on special importance. In cases where there is an acute course of the disease that cannot be treated, adolescent children are considered unfit for military service. With mild forms of the disease that result in recovery, adolescents are considered fit for military service with some minor restrictions.

– manifesting as somatic, but having a psychogenic origin, diseases and functional disorders. IN this group included hypertonic disease, bronchial asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, neurodermatitis, thyrotoxicosis, myocardial infarction, migraine, bulimia nervosa, anorexia and other pathologies. Most frequent symptoms– pain, disruptions in the breathing cycle and heartbeat, skin rashes. Specific diagnosis includes a conversation with a psychiatrist and psychological testing. Treatment involves psychotherapy and medication correction.

The word “psychosomatic” translated from ancient Greek means “belonging to body and soul.” Psychosomatic diseases belong to the group of mental disorders, despite the fact that they manifest themselves at the physiological level. Interest in the close connection between somatic and mental sphere originated in the time of Hippocrates. The concept of “psychosomatics” was introduced into science at the beginning of the 19th century; active research into this group of diseases has been carried out since the mid-20th century. Data on the prevalence of psychosomatic disorders (PSD) are inaccurate, since there is no clear conceptual framework, and the classification remains imperfect. Epidemiological indicators, according to different specialists, range from 0.5 to 66%.

Causes of psychosomatic disorders

Psychosomatic diseases develop on the basis of a physiological predisposition - the readiness of an organ or system for a functional disorder. The external psychogenic cause is destructive personal characteristics, relationships with other people, psychological trauma - various factors, generating and maintaining negative emotions:

• Intrapersonal conflict. The clash of desires and opportunities, responsibilities and needs contributes to the accumulation of emotional stress. Often the conflict remains unconscious.
• Negative experience. Psychosomatic manifestations arise as a result of traumatic childhood experiences. Unprocessed situations from the past are sources of anxiety.
• Secondary benefit. Physiological disorders are formed due to a person’s subconscious need to be in the “sick” position. The disease provides increased attention and care to others, and allows you not to go to school or work.
• Suggestion. A psychosomatic disorder can develop after suggestion or self-hypnosis. The process unfolds on a subconscious level, information about the disease is accepted without critical evaluation.
• Personality traits. In a situation conducive to the emergence of PSD, people often find themselves with infantilism, isolation, uncertainty, unstable self-esteem, and dependence on external evaluation. The basis of the disorder is the predominance of negative experiences, affective tension, and lack of skills in productive interpersonal relationships.
• Identification. Close emotional contact with a sick person can cause PSD. The development of symptoms is based on unconscious copying.
• Self-punishment. Psychosomatic abnormalities can be formed due to feelings of guilt, shame, and self-hatred. Unconscious auto-aggression at the body level helps reduce tension in the emotional sphere.

Pathogenesis

The general scheme of development of psychosomatic disorders is as follows: in the presence of a physiological predisposition to disruption of the functioning of a certain organ (target organ), an external stress factor leads to the accumulation of affective tension, activating the autonomic nervous system and neuroendocrine changes. First, the speed and purposefulness of neurohumoral transmission is distorted, blood supply disorders occur, and then the functioning of the organ is disrupted. In the early stages, changes occur in functional level, are reversible. With prolonged systematic exposure to negative causative factor they become organic and tissue damage occurs.

Classification

Psychosomatic disorders can be divided into several groups. In clinical practice, the most common classification is based on distinguishing the etiological factor, the semantic content of the leading symptom, and the functional structure of the psychosomatic connection. According to it, there are three large groups AKP:

• Conversion disorders. Functional and structural disorders are formed on the basis of a neurotic conflict that receives secondary somatic processing. Physical illness serves as a tool for solving social problems. The development of disorders of the type of loss of function is typical - paralysis, blindness, deafness, vomiting.
• Functional syndromes. Disturbances arise at the level of functions, pathophysiological structural changes are absent in organs. Clinical manifestations are mosaic, including cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms, disorders of the digestive tract, musculoskeletal system, and endocrine system.
• Psychosomatosis. This group includes true psychosomatic disorders - diseases caused by psychogenic factors. Traditionally, these include cases of bronchial asthma, ulcerative colitis, essential hypertension, neurodermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, gastric ulcer and duodenum, coronary heart disease, thyrotoxicosis, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

Symptoms of psychosomatic disorders

Clinical picture The PSR is diverse. Patients complain of dysfunction individual organs and systems or talk about multisystem symptoms. Widespread pain various localizations– retrosternal, head, abdominal, articular, muscular. With instrumental and laboratory examinations, the causes pain syndrome are not detected. Some patients, after psychotherapeutic analysis, notice that symptoms arise during emotional tension, stress, and after conflict situations. Other common complaints are rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, a feeling of heaviness in the back and limbs, dizziness, hot and cold flashes, chills, diarrhea, constipation, heartburn, decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, weakness, nasal congestion, cough.

Conversion symptoms are characterized by loss of function. This species Women are more susceptible to disorders. The main manifestations are respiratory spasms, paralysis, loss of tactile sensitivity, psychogenic muteness, deafness, blindness. In children and adolescents, pre-neurotic, vegetative-dystonic and actual somatic disorders develop. Preneurotic symptoms include tics, nocturnal enuresis, insomnia, unreasonable screaming and crying. Psychosomatic vegetative dystonia is accompanied by dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath and rapid heartbeat. Children with psychosomatic disorders often experience thirst, nausea and vomiting after eating, and suffer from skin itching and rashes. Psychosomatic decreased immunity is manifested by frequent respiratory infections.

Complications

In the absence of adequate therapy, psychosomatic disorders develop according to their somatic counterparts. Functional deviations are transformed into stable structural changes (at the tissue, organ level). The patient’s normal functioning is disrupted, and there is a constant need for the use of symptomatic medications - painkillers, antihypertensives, bronchodilators and others. Serious illnesses limit the patient’s physical and social activity, making him dependent on others, in need of care and help in everyday life.

Diagnostics

Making a diagnosis of PSD is a long and labor-intensive process. First of all, patients turn to somatic doctors, undergo all possible physical, instrumental and laboratory examinations, medications and other methods of treatment. Finding the cause of symptoms can take anywhere from several months to several years. According to recent studies, about 30-50% of cases remain undiagnosed; patients maintain satisfactory health by controlling symptoms with medication. The remaining part of the patients is referred by somatic doctors (therapists, cardiologists, neurologists) to a psychiatrist. Specific examination includes the following methods:

• Conversation. The psychiatrist collects anamnesis and clarifies the symptoms. Determines the presence of traumatic situations, stressful effects, intrapersonal and interpersonal conflicts. Characteristic signs of a neurotic disorder, high emotional tension of the patient.
• Questionnaires. Tests to study the emotional and personal sphere confirm high level anxiety, neuroticism. Hypochondriacal, hysterical, and psychasthenic personality traits are often identified. An adapted version of the MMPI, Eysenck personality questionnaires, and Cattell's 16-factor personality questionnaire are used.
• Projective techniques. Picturesque, color tests and tests of interpretation of situations reveal the patient’s conscious and subconscious experiences, which are the basis of PSR, and are widely used in examining children. A set of techniques may include the method of color choices (modified Luscher test), the method of unfinished sentences, the Thematic Apperception Test, a drawing of a person, a family.
. The first stage of treatment is aimed at removing existing problems (conflicts, consequences of trauma, stress) from the subconscious. After this, the connection with the state of your own body and the ability to manage your well-being are restored.
• . In the presence of accompanying emotional and behavioral disorders The psychiatrist prescribes medications for temporary relief of symptoms (until the effect of psychotherapy appears). The use of antidepressants, anxiolytics, psychostimulants, behavioral correctors, and stress protectors may be indicated.
• Rehabilitation. His immediate environment is involved in the process of restoring the patient’s health. Parents, spouses, and children receive counseling psychological assistance, where the mechanisms of the disease and conditions conducive to recovery are discussed. The efforts of relatives should be aimed at maintaining productive, emotionally open relationships, resolving conflicts, helping and psychological support sick.

Prognosis and prevention

The positive effect of psychotherapy is most likely when initial stages psychosomatic disorder - the earlier diagnosis and treatment are carried out, the more favorable the prognosis. Functional disorders are the easiest to correct; anatomical and structural changes often require long-term medication assistance. Measures to prevent PSD come down to general psychoprophylactic measures. It is important to be able to resist stress, build productive, open interpersonal relationships, not suppress negative emotions, but experience them and draw conclusions.

Psychosomatics reflects the processes of dysfunction of higher nervous activity and transformed into bodily (somatic) sensations, which manifest themselves in the form of symptoms of various diseases of individual organs or tissues.

Soma - Body, torso. The totality of all cells of the body, with the exception of reproductive cells.

Somatic diseases are diseases of internal organs.

Somatic sphere - Bodily sphere.

Somatization – Pathomorphosis (or Nosomorphosis, this is a change in the signs of a disease, a change in morbidity) of some mental disorders, in which vegetative disorders predominate over psychopathological ones. The occurrence of diseases of internal organs as a result of mental conflicts. The term “somatization” was introduced into medical practice as an alternative to the concept of “conversion”. Initially, somatization was understood as the transformation of intrapsychic psychological conflicts into true somatic diseases, subsequently - a set of various psychopathological disorders with a predominance of somatovegetative components.

Somatization disorder - A mental disorder characterized by a multitude of repeated bodily complaints in the absence of disorders that explain these complaints or are adequate to them.

Psychosomatic symptoms are often accompanied by depression or increased anxiety, disrupts personal communication and family relationships, and leads to unnecessary treatment or surgery.

Mental conditions accompanied by psychosomatic symptoms must be treated with active neurometabolic drugs in combination with symptomatic drugs that relieve the pathological effect on a particular organ. In the first stages of treatment, active therapy using intravenous infusions is required. This is due to the fact that in the first stages, rapid localization and relief of the most actively manifested symptoms is required, which can only be achieved with the direct introduction of the necessary restorative drugs into the blood. In the subsequent period, tablet forms of medications are prescribed, psychotherapeutic techniques and methods of restorative neurotherapy are used. May be sometimes applicable cognitive psychotherapy and/or mild hypnotic techniques.

Diagnosis and treatment of psychosomatic disorder

Psychosomatic disorders, as a rule, respond well to treatment and have a positive prognosis. Treatment of psychosomatic disorders is usually carried out under the patronage of a psychotherapist and neurologist, possibly in collaboration with a specialist who treats a particular organ about which a person complains.

Somatogenic reaction is a term used to designate mental disorders (asthenic syndrome, exogenous type of reaction, transient syndromes) that occur in diseases of internal organs and other non-mental diseases.

Somato-vegetative disorder - A combination of autonomic and somatic disorders.

Somatoagnosia - Impairment of the correct perception of the body diagram. Observed with focal lesions of the parietal lobe cerebral hemispheres brain, schizophrenia, depression, age-related changes brain (involutional processes), epilepsy, neuroses, poisoning.

Somatoform disorder - According to ICD-10, F45. The main characteristic of somatoform disorders is persistent complaints of physical disorders and insistent demands for medical research, despite repeated negative results and assurances from doctors that the symptoms are not physically caused. If any physical disorders exist, they do not explain the nature and extent of the symptoms or distress and preoccupation with them on the part of the patient.

There are six types of somatoform disorders:
1. Somatized.
2. Undifferentiated.
3. Conversion.
4. Painful.
5. Hypochondriacal.
6. Unspecified.

Psychosomatics

Psychosomatics is a direction of mental research that studies the influence of mental factors on the occurrence and course of somatic diseases. A direction in medicine that emphasizes the role of mental factors in the cause of the occurrence and course of various functional and organic diseases.

Psychosomatic disorder

This term means a somatic disease that is caused by psychological factors or the manifestations of which are aggravated as a result of their influence. Stress, conflicts and generalized anxiety in equally affect most somatic disorders, but in some cases they are of paramount importance. Psychosomatic disorders belong to the category of mental factors affecting the physical state. Psychosomatic disorders are considered to be disorders of the functions of organs and systems, in the origin and course of which the leading role belongs to the influence of psychotraumatic factors (stress, conflicts, crisis conditions, etc.). Sometimes this term is replaced by the following: “psychophysiological disorder”, “disease of stress”, pathology of modern civilization”, “disease of communication”, disease of adaptation and maladjustment”, pathology of psychostasis”.

Psychosomatic balancing

Correlation by type inverse proportionality between mental and somatic manifestations in the clinical picture of a number of psychosomatic, especially borderline, disorders. Many modern researchers come to the conclusion that psychosomatic balancing is the Law that determines the relationship between somatic and mental pathology. With endogenous depression, for example, the intensity of vegetosomatic manifestations is greater than the manifestation of depression itself.

Somatoform disorder

Essentially this is psychogenic disorders which, along with neuroses and psychopathy, constitute the largest specific gravity among diseases traditionally classified as minor or borderline (community) psychiatry and psychotherapy. Common to all psychosomatosis is an acute or gradual onset, often with neurotic depression. The clinical picture of the disease is represented by a variety of somatic complaints and symptoms, behind which there are distinct affective disorders, often classified as senestopathy. Mental manifestations of psychosomatosis in acute period more often limited to anxiety, panic reactions, depression, IBS. The chronic course of the disease leads to the appearance of distinct neurosis-like and, most often, psychopathic-like disorders. To diagnose psychosomatosis, psychosomatic disorder, somatoform disorder, it is necessary to undergo a full pathopsychic examination by a psychotherapist. It is necessary to identify the somatic disorder and the psychogenic factors that caused it. For example, a mentally significant external stimulus that has a temporary connection with the occurrence of complaints or exacerbation of a somatic disease. Somatic condition the patient must be marked by a significant organic disorder. For example, rheumatoid arthritis or heart disease. Or an identifiable pathophysiological process, such as migraine.

A good psychotherapist is able to discern and correctly determine the true causes of various types of psychosomatics and somatic diseases in a patient.
The doctor should not deal only with removing symptoms, he should deal directly with the true cause of why a wide variety of bodily symptoms appear. Our doctors do not treat psychosomatic disorders symptomatically, but find the true reason why these symptoms appear and destroy it.

Psychosomatic disorder is treatable. However, if the patient was previously treated by other specialists, this complicates and increases the duration of therapy. In some cases, people have to undergo “retreatment” for several years.

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Today, doctors find in patients a large number of different diseases that arise in the human body for no particular reason. At the same time, some diseases are very insidious, since the patient did not have a single physical factor that could provoke the occurrence of a particular disease, or lead to its progression.

For example, a person has passed all the necessary tests, and everything is in order with his heredity, but the disease is still present. In this case, doctors are already beginning to think about such a phenomenon as psychosomatics. What it is, causes, symptoms, list of diseases, as well as treatment methods can be found in this article. Therefore, carefully read the information provided in order to protect yourself and arm yourself.

Psychosomatic illnesses may have various reasons occurrence, and to identify them requires special diagnostic approach. The way the human psyche affects the health of the entire organism as a whole has been studied by many scientists back in ancient times. As Plato said: “In man, soul and body are an inseparable whole.” For more than two thousand years, humanity has been trying to understand more and more deeply how emotions affect human health.

Psychosomatics: what is it?

Quite often you can hear people say that most of our diseases arise from nerves. Every year this phrase takes on more and more significant meaning. However, let's figure out what we're talking about in this case. To do this, let’s answer the question: “Psychosomatics – what is it?”

This is a special direction in medicine and psychology that studies the influence of psychological factors, such as experiences, emotions and feelings, on the occurrence of various bodily and physical diseases. This also includes a condition such as phantom pain. When a person has no prerequisites for presence pain, however, they still make themselves felt.

This term is of Greek origin and is translated as “soul and body.” We can conclude that the psychosomatics of diseases is a science that deals with the interaction of soul and body, and also studies the disruption of this interaction.

About psychosomatic disorders

Psychosomatic disorders are diseases or individual symptoms that develop in the body as a response to a stressful stimulus. Very often we encounter headaches, neck or back pain. The psychosomatics of such diseases may have a hidden meaning, which will not be so easy to understand. It is also possible that you may experience convulsions, weakness or dizziness. Moreover, such conditions arise without any physical preconditions, that is, a person does not have diseases that could lead to such conditions.

According to many psychologists, psychosomatic manifestations arise precisely when a person is unable to adapt to life circumstances. That is, his nervous system unable to accept a certain data stream.

However, in addition to individual symptoms, there is also a huge list of psychosomatic diseases, which include cardiovascular pathologies, bronchial asthma and allergies. Psychosomatics will deal with identifying the causes of these ailments. Such diseases will develop when psychogenic factors arise. For example, if a person has stress, any psychological trauma or conflicts. Thus, diseases are the body’s response to a psychological factor.

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Why does stress make us sick?

Psychosomatics - what is it? This is a science that goes through new stages of development every year, because humanity, with the advent of new technologies, is learning more and more about what stress means. In psychology, a lot of attention is paid to the concept of stress, and for good reason. Let's consider what it is.

Stress is a protective reaction of the body that occurs as a result of the presence of potential danger. Under stress, the body significantly increases the production of some emergency response hormones, so all processes begin to accelerate significantly. A person’s breathing and heart rate increase, and the kidneys work faster and gastrointestinal tract. Thus, our body is in a protective state and thinks about what it needs to do: run away from danger or resist it. In order to provide muscles and organs with oxygen under stress, circulatory system more blood needs to be pumped, so the pressure in the vessels should increase. After the stress ends, the person expresses his emotions, the functioning of the cardiovascular system begins to return to normal.

However, if a person never experiences a discharge, then the blood vessels will for a long time be in a state of spasm, and this can cause arterial hypertension.

Animals in the wild constantly live in a state of stress, but do not suffer from various somatic diseases. However, this is not the case with humans. The point is that in modern world people must constantly restrain their emotions, such as fear or aggression, and thus changes begin to occur in internal organs. As a result, old diseases begin to worsen or new ones arise.

The psychosomatics of diseases depends on how resistant a person is to stress, as well as on his other personal factors.

The main causes of psychosomatic diseases

As you know, without accurately identifying the cause of a psychosomatic disease, it is simply impossible to cure it.

One of the most important reasons, due to which psychosomatic disorders can arise is the presence of confrontations that are in the human psyche, as well as the presence of psychological trauma, the inability to express one’s own feelings and emotions using words, the presence of fear of defending one’s own interests, the inability to recognize anger, aggression and other negative feelings.

Very often, various stressors can cause injury and pain. Psychosomatics studies the influence of stress factors that will lead to changes in a person’s physical condition. This should include experiencing the loss of a loved one, a disaster or military action, as well as other emotional states that can have a significant impact on the human psyche.

Psychosomatic diseases can also arise due to internal experiences. For example, if you have depression, feelings of fear or anger, or if you feel guilty.

Psychosomatic manifestations occur under the influence of chronic emotional overstrain or stress. According to doctors, it is residents of large cities who are most susceptible to such conditions. However, the life of every person of working age is closely intertwined with frequent encounters with stressful situations.

Tense relationships in the work team, fear of the boss, constant quarrels in the family, unfriendly relations with neighbors and many other factors become causes of stress. This also includes traffic jams, rush to a business interview, constant shortage time, as well as information overload. But if a person is also tormented by insomnia, then his condition will worsen more and more. In the modern world it is very difficult to live, completely protecting yourself from stress factors.

However, it is worth considering that there is nothing bad in stress itself, since it is a protective reaction of the body. However, if a person experiences this condition very often, then the strength of his body will simply be depleted.

The causes of psychosomatic diseases also include the presence of negative emotions, such as envy, fear, resentment, disappointment and others. Such emotions wear out the human body and gradually destroy it.

Psychosomatics of Louise Hay's diseases

Louise Hay is a very popular woman who has made an invaluable contribution to the treatment of psychosomatic diseases. She experienced many psychological traumas of fate, and then was able to heal herself and help many people. Louise Hay described psychosomatics in detail in her book. In it you can find any disease and find out how to cure it with the help of special psychological practices.

Louise Hay's understanding of psychosomatics developed after many years of work in helping herself, as well as other people. But she began studying the influence of negative emotions on the body after a lot of childhood and teenage psychological trauma occurred in her life.

Doctors diagnosed the woman herself with uterine cancer, and, according to her, this is not surprising. After all, little Louise was raped at the age of five, she was beaten very often and severely, so this particular disease arose. She was able to heal herself using the techniques that she had been recommending to her patients for so long.

According to her, in order to get rid of the disease, we must understand the psychological reasons for its origin. Only after you destroy the psychological causes of its occurrence will you be able to remove the disease itself on the physical level. The book about the psychosomatics of illnesses by Louise Hay, “Heal Yourself,” tells how to help yourself by working with your feelings and difficult experiences.

Psychosomatic conditions in children

Psychosomatics also helps to understand the causes of diseases in children. In children, emotional disorders arise if the child lives in a dysfunctional and conflict-ridden family. If in an adult such manifestations arise due to stress experienced, then in a child various diseases can arise due to parents. For example, if a child is still very small and is just learning to live, then he is completely dependent on his parents. From the relationship between them to a very to a large extent The condition of the baby will depend. If balance is not maintained in the family, then the child will be the most important link, whose goal will be to restore this balance. And very often everything really gets restored if the baby starts to get sick.

Main symptoms of childhood psychosomatic diseases

What is psychosomatics? This interests many psychologists. After all, every year an increasing number of diseases are of psychosomatic origin. Let's consider what signs can be used to determine the presence of such pathologies in a child:

• Physical signs. A child very often suffers from colds and infectious diseases precisely at those moments when there is chaos and chaos in the family.
• Psychological signs. For example, the child’s parents divorced, but the father comes to the baby every evening and spends time with him. But this time dad did not come, despite the fact that the baby was waiting for him very much. As a result, the child began to experience insomnia.
• Frequent occurrence of accidents. Let's consider this example. The child’s parents divorced, but the father takes the child to school every day. But then the father stops doing this, as a result the baby begins to fall very often and receive various bruises.

It is worth repeating once again that parents are largely to blame for diseases in children. The psychosomatics of childhood illnesses must be taken into account. However, this does not mean that it is worth saving. complete family just for the sake of the child. If the spouses continue to live together, not feeling comfortable, but being in constant quarrels, then this will also negatively affect the child’s health. Therefore, in each case it is very important to weigh the pros and cons.

About the list of diseases

We have already talked about why psychosomatics need to know. Many diseases are caused by stressful conditions experienced both in adulthood and in childhood. There is simply a huge list of ailments that arise precisely for the reason emotional disturbances. Such diseases affect all organs and systems. Each of these diseases carries one or another information. Let's look at some psychosomatic diseases, and also decipher why they occur:

• Anemia. It occurs in people who have a fear of life and are also afraid of losing something.
• Arrhythmia. The presence of fear of being guilty.
• Varicose veins. Typically, this disease occurs in those people who hate the situations in which they are forced to be. The condition occurs at the same time that you are very overworked in life.
• People who try to protect themselves from the outside world and are in constant fear suffer from excess weight.
• Dizziness occurs in those who are afraid to look at the things happening around them.
• Acne can occur if a person is dissatisfied with himself.
• The cause of psychological illnesses is excessive obedience to parents, boss, state, and so on.
• Brain cancer can occur in people who feel unloved.
• If a person is dissatisfied with something, neck diseases may occur. Psychosomatics will help identify subtle reasons such diseases.
• Diabetes occurs in those people who strive in every possible way to make their lives better. May occur in those who were unable to fulfill their secret dreams.
• If a person is indecisive, then in this case he may begin to develop dental diseases. Psychosomatics will help solve this problem.

The list of such diseases is simply huge. You can read more about it in books on psychosomatics. Be sure to pay attention to books such as:

• Louise Hay "Heal Yourself";
• Liz Burbo "Listen to your body";
• Antonio Meneghetti "Psychosomatics";
• Alexander Franz "Psychosomatic medicine. Principles and applications."

Features of treatment

In order to get rid of psychosomatic diseases, there is no point in using medications or any other conservative methods. If you don't get rid of the problem emotional nature, then it will be pointless to engage in physical health. In the treatment of psychosomatic diseases it is very important to find individual approach. In order to do this, it is very important to contact a highly qualified psychotherapist. However, even the patient himself, by looking inside himself and conducting self-analysis, will be able to determine for what reasons this or that disease arose.

If doctors discover psychosomatic illnesses in a child, this means that all family members should undergo treatment. And in this case we are not talking about traditional therapeutic methods. It is very important to visit a psychologist who can figure out what psychological state the child's parents are there. In order to eliminate psychosomatics, it is very important to determine the cause of its origin, and most often it lies in the wrong environment at home. According to psychologists, even in order to cure adult patients, it is necessary to involve his relatives and friends. For maximum result the therapist needs to work with the whole family. In order for psychological changes to occur, it is very important to change the environment. To do this, you need to somehow defuse the flow of family life or even move to another home.

However, in many cases, psychosomatics is hidden so deeply that it takes a lot of time and effort to identify it. For this, it is recommended to undergo a special psychotherapeutic course. Of course, for maximum results, doctors will also prescribe you the use of special medications.

Who is at risk

First of all, people who hide their emotions and experiences from the outside world are at risk. After all, as you know, the more negative emotions accumulate inside us, the more destructive they are to our health.

The tendency to develop psychosomatic disorders occurs in childhood and adolescence, because it is then that the psyche is most unstable, since a small person simply does not know how to react to external stimuli. In the modern world, however, there are also people who can simply not get hung up on problems, so they calmly live to old age without suffering from any diseases.

The risk group includes alcoholics, as well as people suffering from other types of addiction. In fact, alcoholism is also a psychosomatic problem. An alcoholic will not be able to get rid of his craving for alcohol until he believes that he is a person and is really capable of something. But the condition leading to alcoholism can develop in childhood. For example, when very high standards were set for a child, but he simply could not meet them. In adulthood, unjustified expectations can lead to alcoholism.

Have you noticed how your health changes depending on your emotional state? So, in the fall our emotions are colored in gray colors, and with it comes a cold.

Liz Burbo also paid attention to issues of psychosomatics. She emphasizes how much our emotions affect our health, so first of all, try to monitor your condition.

How to learn to work with your emotions

Sometimes we don’t know what to do with negative emotions, so we simply begin to accumulate them in our own soul. Every man and every woman should monitor their internal state. Psychosomatics is a direction in psychology, by studying which you can heal your soul and body. Often, illnesses are caused by a negative outlook on life through the prism of emotional states that arise from the period early childhood. Therefore, it is very important to learn to work with your feelings.

Psychologists recommend doing breathing exercises, meditating, doing yoga, and also conducting an internal positive monologue in order to balance your condition. If something is bothering you, relax and think about it. Praise yourself, remember how much you have already done, and you will understand that you can cope with this problem. This means that she will no longer bother you, you will be able to maintain your emotional state.

It is very important to find an activity that you enjoy. For example, reading a book, going to the cinema or embroidering can distract you from your problems, which means you will not be at the mercy of negative experiences. But do not forget that the problem still needs to be solved.

Psychosomatics is always very dangerous. Only you can help yourself. So take care of your emotional health now.