Let's recall how the connection between our physical wellbeing and our emotions shows itself. Cold hands and feet, fear tightening the body — a common state before an exam. A light step, breathing freely, feeling like you can do anything — rushing to meet a loved one. Our feelings and our bodily sensations are inseparably linked.
In its approach to psychosomatic illnesses, medicine takes into account the mutual influence of several factors in regulating the balance between health and illness. These are:
A risk to health appears when all three of these factors act simultaneously and have a negative effect on a person. Yes, if certain illnesses have occurred within a family, this doesn't mean that every family member will necessarily develop them. Living under conditions of constant stress, rapidly changing circumstances (not always for the better), and crises of every possible kind does not, in every case, lead to a decline in a person's health. A decline in psychological comfort does not automatically bring about the immediate exhaustion of the nervous system, even in someone with heightened sensitivity.
At the same time, it's important to be attentive to the simultaneous action of these three factors. Pain, whether real or imagined, wears a person down — adult or child — and keeps them from living a full life.
If, at the initial stage, a psychosomatic illness can stop developing and disappear without a trace, then the longer a stressful situation continues, the more effort will be required for recovery.
A lowered mood and a feeling of fatigue throughout the day may be noted.
There are signs whose presence may indicate a risk of developing a psychosomatic illness.
If you notice 2 or more of these points in yourself or a loved one, it is advisable to take care of preventing psychosomatic illness.
To do this, you need to strengthen your psychological defense mechanisms and develop adaptive behavioral mechanisms in order to cope effectively with stress.
A boy, a younger schoolchild. His grandmother and mother brought him in for an appointment. He had problems with body odor. The boy also had flatulence, which was especially pronounced at night. His gastrointestinal tract was fine; the pediatrician referred him to a psychologist. It turned out the child had been born weak, and his parents had taken him into their bed, afraid to leave him alone in his crib. After his parents' divorce, his grandmother took his father's place in the bed next to her grandson. In this way the boy was protesting against sharing a bed with his grandmother and mother. He was trying to make himself an “undesirable” bed companion, wanting to gain some independence.
Everything improved after counseling the mother and grandmother. The shared sleeping arrangement was ended. The father was allowed to see the child and spend more time with him on walks and in conversation. There was renewed hope for the family's reunification. The reason the boy had originally been brought in for a consultation was long forgotten.
A teenage girl. Headaches, pain in her eyes. Unable to study. Doctors could find no abnormalities. There was another child in the family, the girl's younger sister, who also had frequent minor ailments, though less pronounced than her older sister's. The mother didn't work and looked after the children. The father worked a lot, was often away from home, and fully trusted his wife with raising their daughters.
The girls' mother tried very hard to give them the maximum amount of education. Music, dancing, several languages at school, tutors. The children's future careers were already mapped out and decided, with no room to deviate from them. The better the girls did in school, the more assignments they received. Friends were undesirable, seen as a bad influence. The older sister, who came to the appointment with her parents, approached her studies diligently and responsibly. High results were demanded of her in the subjects her mother considered important. The girl loved to draw and dreamed of taking classes at an art school. She had a friend, a classmate. Her mother categorically forbade her from spending time with this friend, and did not approve of drawing as a hobby. The girl accepted all of this, and at the same time her headaches and eye pain began.
It was the parents, not the girl and her sister, who needed help — the father, to give attention to his family, and the mother, to find an activity she truly enjoyed. Over time, things improved. The girls' health improved, and they were allowed to keep the activities of their own choosing.
A young woman, a final-year high school student. No strength to go to school. Cold hands and feet, even though her blood circulation was normal. Everything had been fine until the winter of her final school year. She had been studying, working with tutors, and preparing for university admission. She very much wanted to be an architect, but her parents wouldn't hear of it. She was supposed to become a lawyer — that was her parents' dream. The girl obeyed her parents and kept studying. Day by day she grew weaker, until it reached the point where she no longer had the strength to get out of bed.
The fact that her parents agreed to listen to her, and allowed her to try making her own decision about which program to apply to, had a remarkable effect. She regained her strength, her desire to study, and her wish to spend time with friends. Her university admission went well, and peace returned to the family.
