When the mind affects the body
The word psychosomatic joins two parts: psyche, the mind, and soma, the body. It describes physical symptoms that begin or get worse because of what is happening in the mind. When we are under sustained stress or anxiety, the body often feels it.
Stress can play a part in, or worsen, conditions such as migraine, asthma, high blood pressure, psoriasis, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome and ulcers. Unhappiness, anxiety or stress can also cause symptoms without any particular disease: breathlessness, chest discomfort, stomach upsets, muscle pain, dizziness or nausea.
Indian traditions have long seen mind and body as one. Vedic thought describes the body (annamaya kosha) and the mind (manomaya kosha) as layers of one being, and holds that much illness begins in the mind.
In my practice I have seen that when clients work on the emotional side of their lives, some also notice their physical symptoms ease. Counselling, and approaches such as graphotherapy, work at the level of the mind and can be a useful part of care. They do not replace medical diagnosis or treatment. Always see a doctor for physical symptoms, and let counselling support that care.
Patterns I often notice
Over the years I have noticed some links between physical complaints and emotional themes in the people I see. These are observations from practice, not medical explanations:
- Migraine headaches, alongside self-criticism and fear
- Neck and spine stiffness, alongside inflexibility and a heavy emotional burden
- Lower back pain, alongside worries about money and support
- Indigestion, alongside thoughts that are hard to digest
- Pain in the feet, alongside fear of the future
All of us go through turbulent times. How we go through a situation matters more than the situation itself.
This article was first published on Practo Health Feed. Read the original on Practo