Mind and body connection – psychosomatic illnesses
3 minutes read time
“Trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on the mind, brain, and body.” – Dr. Bessel van der Kolk
The word psychosomatic refers to something that simultaneously affects our body and our mind. Franz Alexander, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst from the 20th century started to use it to describe how emotional conflicts can lead to developing physical symptoms. Since then, doctors started to recognise the importance of addressing both psychological and physiological factors in treating many disorders.
Naturally when you look at these effects they are working always in long terms. It is very unlikely that someone gets high blood pressure and eventually a heart attack because they experience stress for a short period. One of many studies shows that people who experienced chronic stress had a 43% higher risk of developing a stroke compared to those who did not report high levels of stress. 1 Individuals who experienced depression had a significantly higher risk of developing coronary heart disease compared to those without depression 2
Do you consider yourself health-conscious? Let’s look behind the obvious things that considered good for you (healthy diet, physical activities etc.). Do you feel safe? Do you feel heard? Do you have someone to talk to without the fear of judgement? Are you compassionate to yourself? Do you love yourself? You need these just as the nutrition in your food or as water.
You might think there is nothing to do at this point, or you don’t feel like talking to a psychologist could make any difference. Scientists found that psychological interventions, such as CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) and mindfulness-based therapy, can help reduce pain intensity and pain-related disability in people with chronic pain conditions.3 (You can read more about CBT here) Therapy focusing on stress management can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack and other cardiac events in patients with heart disease. Patients participating in the therapy had a 50% lower risk of a cardiac event compared to those who did not receive therapy.4
Starting therapy is not an easy step to take. Facing with painful memories and fears can be a bitter pill to swallow. But if you swallow that pill when you have a headache, I’d recommend you make the same effort for your mind to have a healthy life.
References
1: Everson, S. A., Lynch, J. W., Kaplan, G. A., Lakka, T. A., Sivenius, J., & Salonen, J. T. (2001). Stress-induced blood pressure reactivity and incident stroke in middle-aged men. Stroke, 32(6), 1263-1270.
2: Gan, Y., Gong, Y., Tong, X., Sun, H., Cong, Y., Dong, X., … & Lu, Z. (2014). Depression and the risk of coronary heart disease: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies. BMC psychiatry, 14, 1-11.
3: Hoffman, B. M., Papas, R. K., Chatkoff, D. K., & Kerns, R. D. (2007). Meta-analysis of psychological interventions for chronic low back pain. Health psychology, 26(1), 1.
4: Blumenthal, J. A., Jiang, W., Babyak, M. A., Krantz, D. S., Frid, D. J., Coleman, R. E., … & Morris, J. J. (1997). Stress management and exercise training in cardiac patients with myocardial ischemia: effects on prognosis and evaluation of mechanisms. Archives of Internal Medicine, 157(19), 2213-2223.
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