Some physical diseases are thought to be particularly prone to be made
worse by mental factors such as stress and anxiety. Your current mental
state can affect how bad a physical disease is at any given time.
When a psychiatric problem, such as depression, anxiety or another disturbance, manifests itself as seemingly unrelated physical symptoms, we call that Psychosomatic disorders.
It is well known that the mind can cause physical symptoms. For example,
when we are afraid or anxious we may develop: a fast heart rate,
palpitations, feeling sick, shaking (tremor), sweating, dry mouth, chest
pain, headaches, a knot in the stomach, and fast breathing. These
physical symptoms are due to increased activity of nervous impulses sent
from the brain to various parts of the body, and to the release of
adrenaline into the bloodstream when we are anxious.
However, the exact way that the mind can cause certain other symptoms is not clear. Also, how the mind can affect actual physical diseases (rashes, blood pressure, etc) is not clear. It may have something to do with nervous impulses going to the body, which we do not fully understand. There is also some evidence that the brain may be able to affect certain cells of the immune system, which is involved in various physical diseases.
However, the exact way that the mind can cause certain other symptoms is not clear. Also, how the mind can affect actual physical diseases (rashes, blood pressure, etc) is not clear. It may have something to do with nervous impulses going to the body, which we do not fully understand. There is also some evidence that the brain may be able to affect certain cells of the immune system, which is involved in various physical diseases.
Some physical diseases are believed to have a mental component
derived from the stresses and strains of everyday living. This is the
case, for example, of lower back pain and high blood pressure, which appear to be partly related to stresses in everyday life.
Psychiatry has found it difficult until relatively recently to
distinguish somatoform disorders, disorders in which mental factors are
the sole cause of a physical illness, from psychosomatic disorders,
disorders in which mental factors play a significant role in the
development, expression, or resolution of a physical illness.
For instance, while peptic ulcer was once thought of as being purely caused by stress, later research revealed that Helicobacter pylori caused 80% of ulcers. However 4 out of 5 people colonised with Helicobacter pylori
do not develop ulcers, and an expert panel convened by the Academy of
Behavioral Medicine Research concluded that ulcers are not merely an
infectious disease and that mental factors do play a significant role.
One likelihood is that stress diverts energy away from the immune
system, thereby stress promotes Helicobacter pylori infection in the body.
It is still difficult to classify some disorders as purely physical, mixed psychosomatic, or purely somatoform. One example is Irritable Bowel Syndrome
(IBS) that was considered formerly as having purely mental causes,
while subsequent research showed significant differences in the
behaviour of the gut in IBS patients. On the other hand, there are no
actual structural changes in IBS patients and research shows that stress
and emotions are still significant factors in causing IBS.
However, while it is necessary to identify if an illness has a
physical basis, it is recognized more and more that the effort to
identify disorders as purely physical or mixed psychosomatic is
increasingly obsolete as almost all physical illness have mental factors
that determine their onset, presentation, maintenance, susceptibility
to treatment, and resolution.
Addressing such factors is the remit of the applied field of behavioral medicine. In modern society, psychosomatic aspects of illness are often attributed to stress making the remediation of stress one important factor in the development, treatment, and prevention of psychosomatic illness.
Psychosomatic medicine is an interdisciplinary medical field studying the relationships of social, psychological, and behavioral factors on bodily processes and quality of life in humans and animals.
The academic forebear of the modern field of behavioral medicine
and a part of the practice of consultation-liaison psychiatry,
psychosomatic medicine integrates interdisciplinary evaluation and
management involving diverse specialties including psychiatry, psychology, neurology, surgery, allergy, dermatology and psychoneuroimmunology.
Clinical situations where mental processes act as a major factor
affecting medical outcomes are areas where psychosomatic medicine has
competence.
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