Is it true that psychosomatics do not exist?

On the Internet you can find two polar beliefs regarding psychosomatics. Some believe that most health problems are caused by nerves, while others are sure that no negative emotions can cause real disturbances in the body. We decided to figure out what position is confirmed by scientific data.

The question of whether there are diseases of psychosomatic nature, not only ordinary Users social networks and bloggers, but also many authoritative media, for example "Rain", RBC And "Postnuka" . The so-called Instagram psychologists are also focused on this topic. They are ready to explain this term a wide variety of diseases and disorders: sinusitis, extra weight, problems with teeth, acne, failures menstrual cycle, cystitis, Prostate cancer And genital herpes. Numerous Coachs Explain Psychosomatics "Cards of Fear." So, the cause of the sore throat They think The fact that a person is “restrained from gross words”, appendicitis is caused by “fear of life”, lateral amyotrophic sclerosis (which was diagnosed with the world-famous physicist of Stephen Hawking) arises due to the “lack of desire to admit his own value,” hemorrhoids signaling “fear not to fit in the allotted time”, and a viral infection, and a viral infection, and a viral infection. (including Covid, apparently) - about "the absence of joy in life." To treat psychosomatic diseases suggest affirmations, Marathons desires and visiting diverse trainings.

The term “psychosomatics” itself is formed from two ancient Greek roots: ψυχή - “soul” and σῶμα - “body”. The idea that the health of the body and thoughts is associated with roots still in antiquity. For example, Plato He wrote: “As you should not try to treat the eyes separately from the head and the head separately from the body, you should not treat the body, not treating the soul, and the Hellenic doctors then have failures in the treatment of many diseases, when they do not recognize the need to take care of the whole, and meanwhile, if the whole is in poor condition, then the part cannot be in order.” Moreover, the term "psychosomatics" appeared Only in 1818 in the writings of the German doctor Johann-Christian Heinrot. Issues of psychosomatics engaged Also Karl Jacobi, Sigmund Freud, Franz Alexander, Jacob Moreno and Ivan Pavlov. In the 1980s, to popularize the direction of the beginning of the American Louise Hay, who outlined his concept in the book "You can heal your life." She assertedthat the correct affirmations (mental attitudes) cured herself from cervical cancer, which she fell ill due to sexual violence transferred in childhood, and also convinced her followers that HIV infection arises due to a lack of maternal love, and offered to heal it, embracing plush bears. It was Louise Hey who developed the first “fever card”, which her followers promote with some modifications today.

Nor in International classification of diseases (ICD) 10th review, nor in MKB-11 The term "psychosomatic diseases" is not found. At the same time, in the ICD-10 there is a section closest to psychosomatics in class F-“mental disorders and behavior disorders” under the name "Somatoform disorders". These disorders are described as follows: “Repeated presentation of somatic symptoms simultaneously with the persistent requirements of medical examinations, despite their repeated negative results and certification of doctors, that the symptoms do not have a somatic nature. If the patient has any somatic diseases, they do not explain the nature and degree of severity of symptoms or suffering or complaints of the patient. ” Diseases of this group Included Hypochondria, dysmorphophobia (rejection of your own body), psychogenic itching, psychogenic pain in the back and head, as well as some forms of diarrhea, hiccups, rapid urination and other ailments. It is worth paying attention to the difference between somatoform diseases and psychosomatics in the understanding of Instagram psychologists: the former are not confirmed by the results of diagnostics and examinations, while the second can be identified according to the results of analyzes and methods of functional diagnosis (for example, ultrasound or ECG). It is also important to note that with somatoform diseases, we are always talking about the presence of a patient in increased alarm for his health.

At the same time, almost each of us is familiar with situations in which, against the backdrop of experiences and stress, certain bodily manifestations arose: the heartbeat accelerated, a feeling of a coma in the throat or lack of air appeared, and grabbed the stomach before an important meeting. All these symptoms passed by themselves immediately after the resolution of emotional stress. Practicing doctors talk about more rare manifestations. “The man lost his speech after his wife, in such a voluntary-compulsory manner, took him with him to childbirth. He looked at everything and was numb at some point, ”- tells Natalya Fomicheva, candidate of psychological sciences, head of the Department of Psychotherapy of the Moscow Institute of Psychoanalysis. Various researchers tried to calculate what is the percentage of psychosomatic complaints (that is, not confirmed by laboratory and functional tests) among all appeals to doctors. The scatter turned out to be impressive: from 20% to 84% Patients reported on chest pain, dizziness, headaches, insomnia, impotence, weight loss, cough or constipation, while they could not detect any physical defeat of the relevant organs.

At the same time, it is proved that chronic stress, depression and depressed conditions, as well as an increased level of cortisol negatively affect our health. So, in the experiments on mice, these factors Changed work mitochondria, provoked relapses of oncological diseases, called Atherosclerotic lesions of blood vessels and sugar diabetes second type. In observations of people, scientists came to the conclusion that a high level of anxiety could be associated with an increase in the risk of cardiovascular diseases, in particular heart attacks. And by conclusions The American Association of Psychologists, stress negatively affects the entire organism, including the musculoskeletal system, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastrointestinal, nervous and reproductive systems. Chronic stress is the most important factor in the launch of psychosomatic diseases. So, researchers from the University of Wayne notedthat such disorders were more often revealed among those emigrants from Iraq who found the military operations of 1991, compared with those who left the country before they began.

To date, scientists agree that there are at least seven diseases, to launch or provoke an exacerbation of which mental factors can. These include: bronchial asthma, atopic dermatitis, hypertension, stomach ulcer and duodenum, thyrotoxicosis, ulcerative colitis, some also allow the inclusion of rheumatoid arthritis in this list. In English literature, these diseases are called "Holy Seven" (or "Chicago Seed") Psychosomatics. There are no scientific consensus relative to some other pathologies, while some specialists They thinkthat they can have a psychosomatic nature. This, in particular, is the syndrome of irritated intestines, eczema, other types of dermatitis, dysmenorrhea (painful menstruation). Moreover, most of the fact that coaches and calling psychologists belong to psychosomatics has a very proven biological nature of the occurrence. So, angina - Most often, a bacterial disease caused by streptococci or staphylococci, side amyotrophic sclerosis partially has genetic nature, hemorrhoids arises Due to the increase in the pressure in the veins of hemorrhoidal plexus, and viral infections (including Covid) are developing due to viruses entering the body. 

Thus, psychosomatic diseases really exist, but their list is limited by just a few diagnoses. At the same time, it is important to understand that by this term evidence-based medicine means exclusively diseases that may arise or aggravate against the background of stress, and not a mythologized concept that explains the problems with a particular organ suppression of some emotions. Moreover, true psychosomatics is treated by specialist doctors using psychotherapy methods and prescribing drug treatment, when it is necessary, and by no means a positive thinking and repetition of special affirmations.

Half truth

What do our verdicts mean?

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