Psychosomatic illness
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| ICD-10 | F45 | |
|---|---|---|
| ICD-9 | 306.9 | |
| OMIM | {{{OMIM}}} | |
| DiseasesDB | {{{DiseasesDB}}} | |
| MedlinePlus | {{{MedlinePlus}}} | |
| eMedicine | {{{eMedicineSubj}}}/{{{eMedicineTopic}}} | |
| MeSH | {{{MeshNumber}}} | |
A psychosomatic illness, now more commonly referred to as psychophysiologic disorders, is an illness whose symptoms are caused by mental processes of the sufferer rather than immediate physiological causes. If a medical examination can find no physical or organic cause it is clasified under somatoform disorders but, if an illness appears to to be associated with personality variables or result from emotional conditions (such as anger, anxiety, depression and guilt) or stress factors (such as life events, role loss), then it might be classified as psychosomatic.
The interaction between psychological factors and the immune system is studied in psychoneuroimmunology.
Psychosomatic symptoms show that a human body can create physical symptoms that compensate for relationship deficiencies. (For example, hypnosis-induced allergic reactions indicate that a person's immune response can dramatically change during an intense mind-body relationship).
Very often, psychosomatic illness is caused by external factors or players. Severe stress caused by factors in work, relationship, and family are known to cause bowel illness, stomach, headache, incontinence, loss of hair, dehydration due to the aggression suffered or lack of respect for the rights of the human being.
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[edit] Solutions
Although psychosomatic disease might improve or disappear following suggestion by a recognized authority, both the psycho and somatic aspects of psychosomatic symptoms may vanish if people improve the relationship of mind to body.
Emotional conditions such as anger, anxiety, depression and guilt can be treated using Hypnotherapy and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing.
[edit] List of illnesses studied from a psychosomatic perspective
- Acne
- asthma,
- Allergies, and multiple chemical sensitivity,
- Angina pectoris
- Angioneurotic edema
- Arrhythmia
- Autoimmune disorders
- Cardiospasm
- Crohn's disease
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
- Chronic pain
- Colitis
- Coronary heart disease
- Diabetes mellitus
- Duodenal ulcer
- Essential hypertension
- Fibromyalgia
- Gastric ulcer
- Gulf War Syndrome,
- Headache
- Herpes simplex
- Hyperinsulinism
- Hyperthyroidism
- Hypoglycemia
- Immune diseases
- Inflammatory bowel disease
- Irritable colon
- Migraine
- ME
- Neurodermatitis
- Obesity
- Painful menstruation
- Pruritus ani
- Pylorospasm
- Regional enteritis
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sacroiliac pain
- Sciatica
- Spastic colitis
- Skin diseases
- Tachycardia
- Tension headache
- Tension myositis syndrome
- Tuberculosis
- Ulcerative colitis
- Urticaria
- Warts
[edit] See also
- Illness as Metaphor
- Baskerville effect
- Hypochondria
- Munchausen syndrome
- Nocebo
- Placebo
- Placebo (origins of technical term)
- Somatoform disorders
[edit] External links
- Mind-Body Medicine: An Overview, US National Institutes of Health, Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
- Psychosomatic Medicine
- Mindbody Medicine
- American Psychosomatic Society
- University of Michigan
- NIH
- University of IowaTemplate:Psychosomatic illness
