Psychosomatic diseases have been known to mankind for a long time. This definition was proposed in 1818 by a German doctor named Heinroth. Since then, there has been much debate about where these diseases came from and what they really are. And also scientists are researching who is more prone to these diseases and by what means they need to be treated.
Definition
Before considering the classification of psychosomatic disorders and their features, it is necessary to define this concept. Psychosomatic disorder is a disease manifested in the form of a functional or organic lesion of an organ or organ system. But it is based not only on physiological causes, but also on the interaction of the psychological characteristics of a person and a bodily factor. Almost any disease can be psychosomatic. But most often it is a stomach ulcer, hypertension, diabetes, neurodermatitis, arthritis and cancer.
Main categories
The most commonly accepted classification of psychosomatic disorders is as follows:
- Actually, diseases of a psychosomatic nature (high blood pressure, stomach ulcer, asthma, psoriasis, etc.).
- Somatogeny is a person’s mental reaction to a disease that already exists. This includes either too much anxiety about an existing disease, or a demonstrative neglect of it.
- Somatomorphic type of disorder (e.g., VSD or neurocirculatory dystonia).
The most common are diseases of the first category of this classification of psychosomatic disorders.
The influence of Freud’s work
The origin of the psychosomatic direction in medicine is associated with the works of Freud. This direction originates from the medical history of a patient named Anna O. It was this case that made Freud pay attention to the appearance of a physical symptom by the conversion mechanism. Despite the fact that Freud himself never mentioned the word "psychosomatics", and even more so did not make any classifications of psychosomatic disorders, in the future it was thanks to his followers that the direction of psychosomatic medicine gained wide popularity.
Categorization A. B. Smulevich
In 1997, the modern Russian psychologist A. B. Smulevich proposed the following classification of psychosomatic disorders:
- Mental disorders that manifest as somatized symptoms.
- Psychogenic mental disorders, which reflect the patient's response to bodily disease.
- Exogenous mental disorders that occur due to somatic harm (somatogenic disorder).
- Somatic diseases manifesting under the guise of psychological manifestations.
- Comorbid manifestations of physiological and psychological disorders.
Psychosomatic illnesses are extremely common. Psychologists believe that more than half of all patients who seek medical help for help actually suffer from psychosomatics. For their treatment, various medical methods are used that temporarily stop the symptoms or weaken it. But the formation of psychosomatic diseases is based on several conditions of a psychological nature.
Is there a correlation between diseases and personality traits?
Currently, there are several areas in this area. The main ones are the psychoanalytic and anthropological approaches. There is also the concept of psychosomatic disorders, which considers the personality profile in the framework of its predisposition to such diseases. In order to determine the specificity of this type of disorder, it is necessary to pose the following questions:
- Is a person who has a certain type of character predisposed to a particular disease?
- Do difficult life circumstances lead to disease?
- Is there a connection between human behavior and his illnesses?
Scientists who were looking for answers to these questions for many years tried to describe the characterological profiles of patients with hypertension, asthma or an ulcer. But at present, most scholars are inclined not to attach such importance to the personality profile and describe the nature of the psychosomatic patient as such. Regardless of the disease, as a rule, this is a person of an infantile nature, prone to neurosis.
Conditions provoking the development of diseases
Consider the main factors of psychosomatic disorders.
- Genetic predisposition to the disease of a particular organ. For example, three generations in a family suffer from bronchial asthma or hypertension.
- The psychological characteristics of the patient. Restrained and withdrawn people who find it difficult to express their feelings usually suffer from psychosomatics. These personality traits do not arise from scratch. Their development provokes a special type of education in which the child is forbidden to show his feelings. More often than not, aggression, anger, and annoyance are prohibited in families. Often in adulthood, psychosomatic diseases appear due to the fear of being rejected by the parent, which took place in childhood.
- The presence of a psychologically traumatic situation in the present tense. Moreover, the same circumstances by different people can be perceived completely differently. Not every person who finds himself in unpleasant circumstances will develop a psychosomatic illness. As a rule, this usually happens in people who have a history of the first and second points.
Trigger factors
As a rule, the cause of a psychosomatic disorder, manifested in the form of a prolonged physiological disturbance in the work of a certain organ, is stress, serious conflict, loss of a loved one, uncertainty. On the part of the body, a reaction occurs:
- At the level of physiology, it manifests itself in the form of vegetative shifts.
- On the psycho-emotional - affective and cognitive disorders that are directly related to the experience of stress.
- At the behavioral level, attempts to adapt to the situation.
Symptomatology
The following symptoms of psychosomatic disorders are distinguished:
- Sensation of pain in the region of the heart, which appears during physical exertion and is similar to angina pectoris.
- Pain in the neck, migraine. Less likely to suffer from pain in the temples.
- Digestive disorders resulting from strong negative experiences.
- Backache.
- A sharp increase or decrease in blood pressure.
- A strong heartbeat that makes a person anxiously listen to their heart rate.
- Violations associated with the process of swallowing, a feeling of "lump" in the throat.
- Shortness of breath in the absence of respiratory diseases.
- Numbness or tingling in the hands.
- Nasal congestion, shortness of breath.
- Short-term visual impairment.
- Dizziness.
The main causes of psychosomatics
The main reasons why psychosomatic diseases occur are as follows:
- Internal conflict. Most often, a conflict arises between consciousness and the unconscious, social and instinctive. For example, this may be a conflict that arose on the basis of sexual desire, and the impossibility of its implementation. If the conscious wins in a person, diseases of the pelvic organs arise. If the unconscious - there will be no psychosomatics, but the person will "waste himself", which will lead to sexually transmitted diseases or the inability to have children.
- Secondary benefit. In this case, the disease brings a certain benefit to the person - if he is sick, he has the opportunity to receive care from loved ones, he does not need to go to the boring job.
- Suggestion. This factor usually affects infantile individuals or children. When a child or a psychologically immature person is constantly repeated that he is a lazy person or an egoist, his self-esteem begins to fall. This leads to the appearance of symptoms of psychosomatic disorders.
- The desire to be like another person. Often, people who cannot find themselves are subject to psychosomatics and copy others in their bodies. They try to become as successful, rich, existing as if in isolation from their own body. Due to this alienation, the body begins to hurt, trying to return the person "to himself."
- Punishment. Often a factor in psychosomatic disorders can be fault. In this case, the disease is an act of self-punishment. One of the most striking examples is frequent physical trauma, as well as somatic diseases caused by guilt.
- Psychological trauma of childhood. In the past, a person had many traumatic events. These injuries, as well as the loss of significant loved ones, cause serious psychosomatic disorders and diseases that are difficult to treat.
Effect on the psyche
In the absence of an integrated approach (simultaneous treatment of a somatic symptom by a doctor and work with a psychologist), the course of the disease may worsen. It does not depend on the type of psychosomatic disorder. In addition to the deterioration of the physical condition, a phenomenon such as “going into a disease” can be observed due to the fact that the problem that is urgent for a person is not solved. A person cannot cope with a life problem, it becomes easier and easier to physically hurt. If there is a serious disturbing experience that is not blocked by psychological defense and is not subjected to psychotherapy, it begins to somatize - to turn into a physical symptom. The specificity of psychosomatic disorders is such that anxiety, fear or aggression do not disappear anywhere, affecting both the psyche and internal organs.
Treatment
Therapy of these diseases should be comprehensive. If we take into account that the disease was caused by several factors, then it is necessary to act on each of them. In other words, both on the suffering organ and on the personality of the patient.
Psychotherapy of psychosomatic disorders is aimed at increasing the level of awareness of a person. During therapy, he learns to recognize his feelings, express unreacted experiences. When feelings are recognized, it becomes possible to understand how to deal with them. A person begins to realize that not every time these feelings are inappropriate, and it is quite possible to express them. This allows you to reduce the level of psychological stress. The emotions on which stress was based become conscious. There is an opportunity to express them through action or inaction.