What is psychosomatics in medicine. Psychosomatics - disease or nerves and how is it treated? You might also like

In the human body appear daily millions new cells and about the same number die off.

All 75 trillion body cells are completely renewed on average 18 months! Every 1.5 years the body becomes new!

The update processes take place on demonconscious level. The body is healed myself, without the participation of consciousness (personality), constantly, every second!

Why, then, do human diseases remain the same, old ones?

About the cause of any disease

The answer to the main question "Why do we get sick?" psychologists gave it long ago. It is extremely clear and understandable.

A person is sick because does not change habitual negative thoughts and emotions:

• By yourself!
• Consciously!
• On the positive!

A wise organism, working at a level unconscious of a person, is beyond its power. His task is to protect the body and he copes with it as best he can, despite the fact that a person often harms himself by leading unhealthy Lifestyle:

• eating improperly
• does not drink enough water,
• sleeps badly
• nervous, angry, sad, lamenting, hating, afraid - experiencing a lot of negativity towards himself, others, the world,
• works in a job you don't like
• consists in destructive and degrading personal relationships,
• has many bad habits,
• does not develop as a person,
• does not strive for spiritual growth.

There are many forms nothealth. It is impossible to list them all. But all of them - even to degradation, decay, aging, death.

To be sick or to be healthy?

For health or ill health, each person is himself programming thoughts, emotions, words and deeds.

To be ill or not to be ill - personal choice everyone.

This has long been known in psychology. Its separate industry is psychosomatics - has expanded so much over the past decades that it is already recognized as a separate, independent science.

Psychosomatics - a science that studies the influence of psychological factors on the occurrence of bodily diseases.

Psychologists around the world urge people to awareness. But for most, this is not just “what I will do last”, but “what I will not do at all”.

The latter are as many as those who:

• suffers constantly and periodically with the same diseases,
• goes to the same doctors (who do not treat),
• drinks all the same pills (which do not help).

Someone laziness self-medicate; to someone once understand yourself; and someone did not reach even that level of consciousness at which the thought comes - "I am responsible for everything that happens to me in life."

Man is capable heal from any disease! The time and effort required for this depends on the degree of complexity of the disease and its type.

Naturally, in case of serious damage to the body (burns, dislocations, fractures, open wounds, etc.), you cannot cope on your own! It is necessary to seek emergency help from traditional or alternative medicine institutions.

Some cells in the body are renewed very often and quickly, others extremely slowly. For example, lymphocytes at a rate of 10,000 cells per second. But the percentage of heart cells renewed in 1 year is very small - only 1%.

Accordingly, to ensure that this or that organ or system of the body is rebuilt while a person realizes those thoughts that lead to ill health, and begins to practice positive thinking is necessary different amount of time and labor.

People are looking for a miracle in the outside world, thinking that a magic pill or a doctor instantly and easilyrelieve health problems.

Becoming on the path of self-medication, you need to stock up patienceand more work... But this path always gives the result - recovery.

Unfortunately, many people do not want to lead a healthy lifestyle, not all are ready and or not capable.

A simple example. The liver of a person suffering from alcoholism and the often accompanying bad habit of eating fatty and fried foods will be completely cleansed in just 8 weeks, if the patient stops killing himself with all these poisons, and also stops taking medications "from the liver"! But how many alcohol addicts will make such a “sacrifice”?

How many will agree that their illness is psychosomatic and will begin to look for those negative mental attitudes that feed it?

Diseases and their psychological causes

The science of psychosomatics is being developed by many foreign and domestic psychologists (Louise Hay, Liz Burbo, Valery Sinelnikov, Mirzakarim Norbekov, Yulia Zotova, and others).

In many ways, the theoretical data and practical recommendations given by scientists coincide.

Generalized table the most common psychosomatic diseases.

Kind of diseases	Psychological reasons
Alcoholism	Uselessness, unwillingness to live, lack of attention and affection
Allergy	Self-doubt, stress, fear
Arthritis	Lack of love, increased self-criticism, resentment, resentment, anger
Asthma	Suffocating love, suppression of feelings, fear of life
Insomnia	Fear, guilt, distrust
Poor eyesight	Fear of the future / past, anger, frustration
Diseases of the stomach	Fear, inability to enjoy life, confidence in their failure
Diseases of the teeth	Constant indecision, inability to make a clear decision
Diseases of the nasopharynx	Resentment, inner crying, feeling insignificant
Kidney disease	Boredom, self-anger, self-criticism, lack of emotion, frustration, frustration
Liver disease	Anger, chronic resentment, self-justification
Back ailments	Lack of emotional support, lack of love, guilt, fear of lack of money
Respiratory diseases	Depression, grief, sadness
Diseases of the thyroid gland	Hatred of the one who caused pain, suffering, excessive sacrifice, feeling that there is “no way in life”
Cardiovascular diseases	Emotional problems, lack of joy, hard-heartedness, tension, overwork, self-love
Excess weight	Fear, need for protection, self-denial
Gastritis, pancreatitis	Lack of self-esteem
Hemorrhoids	Experiencing the past
Headaches	Fear, self-criticism, feelings of inadequacy
Diabetes	Jealousy, the desire to control the lives of other people
Migraine	Dissatisfaction with life, sexual fears
Curvature of the spine	Fear, obsession with old ideas, distrust of life, lack of courage to admit mistakes
Blood pressure	High - worries about the past Low - lack of parental love, self-doubt
Baldness	Fear, tension, desire to control everyone and everything
Cold	Confusion in thoughts
Cancer	Long feelings of resentment and resentment, grief, sadness, “devouring” oneself
Trauma	Self-anger, guilt
Acne	Small outbursts of anger
Snore	Stubborn refusal to let go of old thought patterns

Despite the fact that generalized data make it possible to quickly determine the cause of a psychosomatic illness, each individual case unique.

Only the man himself, his unconscious and his body know why this or that disease arose. But in order to transfer this knowledge from the sphere of the unconscious to the level of consciousness, it is necessary to collect all the necessary information about asdo it.

There are special super-effective techniques and techniques, but about them does not know yet 99% of the population!..

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Introduction

Psychosomatics as a scientific discipline

1History of development of psychosomatics

2 Modern concepts of psychosomatic diseases

Diagnostics in psychosomatics and strategies of personality behavior

1Strategies of personality behavior as an object of psychosomatics research

2Performance of diagnostics in patients with psychosomatic disorders

Therapy for psychosomatic diseases

Conclusion

Introduction

With the development of scientific and technological progress in recent centuries, human life has changed significantly. On the one hand, new technologies have made labor easier and made it possible to satisfy the basic problems of most of humanity. On the other hand, the tense rhythm of life caused by the transformation in industrial and managerial relations, the acceleration of production processes and the development of communication channels have led to an increase in stress and psychological burden on a person.

A modern person receives more information and experiences more stress in ten years than his ancestors in their entire life. Not all people quickly adapt to such conditions. Many members of modern society suffer from prolonged distress, as a result of which they develop mental and psychosomatic disorders. Of course, psychosomatic diseases are not a completely new phenomenon, but a significant increase in the incidence of diseases has been outlined precisely in industrial and post-industrial society.

The reaction of the scientific world to such changes was the emergence of a new interdisciplinary direction of theoretical research and practical activities, called psychosomatics (from the Latin “psycho” - soul and “soma” - body ”). Of course, psychosomatics is a synthetic branch of knowledge that studies the complex connections between social causes, emotional status of a person, his spiritual and moral state and the state of his somatic (bodily) health. But, having learned a lot from medicine, psychology and other sciences, she developed her own object, subject, goals and methods of research, as well as therapy, becoming not just a theoretical branch of knowledge, but an important part of practice in clinical psychology and medicine. Therefore, in our work we will consider the main provisions of psychosomatics as a science.

.Psychosomatics as a scientific discipline

1.1The history of the development of psychosomatics

Psychosomatics is an interdisciplinary scientific discipline that studies the relationship between somatic diseases (diseases of the body) and the psychological causes of their occurrence.

The object of the study of psychosomatics is the personality of a patient suffering from a psychosomatic disorder and individual psychosomatic manifestations. And the subject is psychosomatic phenomena, their structure, functions, evolution in various types of bodily and mental pathologies.

Since ancient times, people have had some vague ideas about the connection between mental phenomena and bodily health, then it was about the influence of the soul on the body. For the first time in the scientific literature, the term "psychosomatics" was used in 1818 by the philosopher and psychiatrist F. Geynroth (1773 - 1843), who believed that most ailments of the body are caused by psychogenic factors, primarily of a moral nature. So, in his opinion, feelings of anger, shame, sexual dissatisfaction could provoke the development of epilepsy, cancerous tumors, tuberculosis.

A decade later, psychoanalyst M. Jacobi introduced another term “somatopsychics,” emphasizing the connection between corporeality and mental phenomena. At the beginning of the twentieth century. in 1913 another psychoanalyst P. Federn published a report on the successful cure of an asthma patient using psychoanalysis methods. His work was based on the ideas of the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud (1856-1939), who argued that hysteria and conversion, which are based on internal conflict, can be expressed in the form of somatic symptoms. These symptoms are very diverse, from headache, vegetative manifestations to the development of severe bodily diseases, such as paralysis. Moreover, each somatic symptom is not accidental, it signals a psychogenic cause that caused it, for example, diseases of the lower extremities may indicate a subconscious unwillingness to "move forward", fear of the future, diseases of the organs of vision from unwillingness to see a traumatic situation, etc. It was Freud's theory of subconscious repression that formed the basis for his understanding of psychosomatic diseases. Yes, and the hysteria and conversion according to Freud themselves can be of both mental and somatic nature, because illness, on the one hand, allows you to relieve tension caused by an internal conflict, and on the other hand, to realize the accumulated energy, at least in the form of taking care of your physical health.

In 1922, the term "psychosomatics" was first used in the medical literature. This year can be considered the official date of the birth of science. But other scientists were engaged in its development and formation. Thus, in 1040-50s, the outstanding American psychoanalyst and physician Franz Alexander (1891-1964) was engaged in the study of psychosomatics. The result of his research was the book "Psychosomatic Medicine". According to Alexander, the disease is provoked not only by somatic or psychogenic factors. He identified three groups of factors: somatic (heredity, organ predisposition to diseases, unfavorable external conditions, etc.), "personal disposition" (psychological defense skills developed by a person from childhood) and a provoking psychological situation (for example, internal conflict, psychological trauma, in the modern sense - stress). In developing his theory, he used not only the ideas of Freud, but also A. Adler (1870 - 1937), as well as the results of personal observations.

F. Alexander developed the so-called. the concept of specificity. According to her, all psychological factors are neutral and only "personal disposition", the patient's relationship to them makes them traumatic. It is possible to identify certain psychogenic causes of somatic diseases only with the help of psychoanalytic techniques. At the same time, the patient's conscious emotions do not harm him, only the repression and suppression of emotions (usually negative) leads to the appearance of bodily ailments or individual symptoms. In order to understand the true causes of psychosomatic diseases, it is necessary not only to understand the current life situation of the patient, but also to follow the nature of his personality development.

On the basis of the concept of psychosomatic specificity, Alexander's school of psychosomatics emerged, which studied the relationship between physiological reactions and mental processes, in particular during the course of internal conflicts. According to the ideas of this school, certain types of emotions in humans cause corresponding vegetative reactions. And if a person does not "throw out" the emotion, that is, does not react, then there is a violation of autonomic reactions, which leads to somatic diseases. Most often, a person suppresses emotions associated with sexual experiences, fear, guilt, feelings of inferiority, aggression. At the same time, three types of psychosomatic diseases are distinguished: conversion symptoms, functional syndromes and psychosomatosis.

Conversion symptoms represent a symbolic response to neurotic personality conflict, such as deafness or paralysis in hysteria. These symptoms are a reaction of the motor skills and sense organs of a person.

In more severe cases, internal organs react to a neurotic conflict, then we are talking about the emergence of functional syndromes, expressed in complaints about problems with the cardiovascular system, the digestive tract, etc. indefinite character. This is the case when a therapist cannot diagnose a somatic illness in the presence of a clinical picture of a bodily illness.

Psychosomats are bodily diseases caused by the influence of an internal conflict on the "target organ". These most often include bronchial asthma, diabetes mellitus, gastric ulcer and intestinal ulcer, skin diseases. However, the opinions of scientists regarding the list of psychosomatosis differ significantly. Disputes are still ongoing.

1.2 Modern concepts of psychosomatic diseases

In addition to Alexander, Helen F. Dunbar (1902-1959) and Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) have made major contributions to modern psychosomatics.

F. Dunbar focused precisely on the vulnerability of certain organs to conflict experiences. So coronary heart disease is triggered by anxiety, and addiction to herbs - by a hypertrophied sense of independence. In his opinion, all patients suffering from psychosomatic ailments are prone to detachment from reality, lack of involvement in the current life situation and the inability to verbally express their experiences. But depending on the predominance of certain symptoms, we can talk about the psychosomatic type, personality profile, for example, "coronary" or "ulcerative". P. Sifneos and M. Shur built their theories on the basis of Dunbar's theory (in many respects criticized).

Peter Sifneos (1920 - 2008) introduced into psychology and medicine the concept of alexithymia - a mental disorder consisting in the inability of a person to navigate his own emotions, incl. connected with the bodily part of one's own "I". People suffering from alexithymia are characterized by a paucity of imagination with excessive involvement in the outside world. Not understanding his emotions, a person cannot react to them, which means that there is an accumulation of "unreacted emotions" and the development of psychosomatic diseases. The causes of alexithymia can be both age-related disorders, disorders of the development of the brain, and individual, especially the emotional sphere of a person. There is an opinion that in many ways modern society itself provokes the spread of alexithymia, encouraging restraint and secrecy of their own emotions in people.

P. Marty noted that people suffering from psychosomatic diseases are characterized by stereotyped thinking and speech, that is, a certain poverty of abstract thinking, which is also typical for alexithimi. This trait is often correlated with emotional poverty and depression. A possible cause of these manifestations may be the asymmetry of the cerebral hemispheres. This sheds light on the connection between psychosomatics and neuropsychology. In general, these violations are accompanied by personality infantilization.

The concept of infantilism was also used by M. Schur in his theory of resomatization. A baby cannot express emotions verbally, so he expresses them with his body - in the form of screaming, tears, motor skills, and autonomic reactions. In the event of a bodily response to emotions, there is a regression to children's emotional response. Resomatization corresponds to regression as a way of psychological protection of the personality.

An adult who suppresses his emotions, does not allow him to respond to them verbally, he experiences the process of bodily reaction. Body discomfort appears, which can develop into a persistent symptom and even illness. Some researchers believe that patients with neurosis and psychosomatosis actually suffer most of all from their infantilism and, first of all, psychological maturation of the personality (desomatization) is necessary for healing. In this case, we are talking not about general, but about selective infantilism. According to A. Beck (born 1921), regression can be preceded by a cognitive shift, when, in a state of stress, a person begins to react on an instinctive level, returning to more vulnerable forms of emotional response. In order to maintain health, an adult must be able to consciously use the entire set of emotional responses, including children's forms (for example, when communicating with children and infantile patients). Although sometimes conscious regression can also have psychotherapeutic significance, for example, the “primary cry” method according to A. Yanov. Thus, it is possible to achieve a connection between conscious and subconscious processes.

A. Mitscherlich (1908 - 1982) proposed the concept of two-phase psychological defense (or repression). On the basis of regression, a person has a primary psychological and secondary bodily conflict, while they can replace each other, forming a picture of mixed neurotic and psychosomatic manifestations. Therefore, in clinical psychology and medicine, the term "somatization" appeared, meaning the consequence of psychological defense in the form of bodily response and physiological symptoms. This implies that the psychological defense was unsuccessful and irrational. Somatization acts as a visual expression of the process of repression in the human psyche. According to statistics, about 30% of patients seeking help from therapists suffer from psychosomatic diseases.

According to the concept of Karen Horney (1885 - 1952), personality anxiety can become the cause of psychosomatic diseases. This primarily concerned children's anxiety, however, applying this theory to adult patients, researchers again encountered infantile personality traits. But you can look at the problem from the other side, using the postulate "all diseases come from childhood."

It was K. Horney who deepened Freud's understanding of the basic internal conflict and deduced a classification of these oppositions. The conflict "approach - avoidance" is characterized by a person's desire for pleasure and fear. A conflict of the "avoidance - avoidance" type arises in a stressful situation and the forthcoming difficult choice "of two evils". In the conflict "approach - approach" the choice is complicated by the individual's desire for perfectionism. The development of these conflicts causes depression and psychosomatic reactions, because normal response to emotion is impaired or absent.

Frederick Perls (1893 - 1970) and other scientists, for example, the modern Russian psychologist M. Litvak, see in internal conflicts the struggle between the "adult" and the "child" in the structure of the personality. The subconscious mind (“child”) always tries to find weaknesses in the conscious psychological defense, and, finding them, determines the picture of kinetic depression and psychosomatic disorders. Psychocorrection is necessary to realize the internal conflict and translate it into the plane of conscious response.

A. Maslow called the main cause of psychosomatic diseases the impossibility of self-realization and self-actualization, as important needs in the structure of the human personality ("Maslow's pyramid"). Self-expression in Maslow's hierarchy of needs is at the very top, after physiological needs, protection needs, social needs, and self-esteem. That is, a person cannot achieve self-realization if his basic needs are not satisfied. And the more unmet basic needs, the greater the likelihood of a psychosomatic illness. However, even among wealthy people who have met other needs, problems with self-realization are possible due to improper behavior strategies, in particular, responding to stress.

Psychiatrist and neurologist Viktor Frankl (1905 - 1997), developing Maslow's idea, called the absence of vital meanings the main cause of psychosomatic diseases, and the psychologist from the United States Carl Rogers (1902 - 1987) - the so-called. existential crisis. By this crisis, he understood a state of anxiety when it was impossible to find the meaning of life, to resolve the issue of the existence of a personality, which is characteristic, as a rule, of a developed society.

Another scientist Paul Schilder (1886 - 1949) suggested that the basis of psychosomatic diseases lies in the cognitive processes of the personality, in particular those that relate to aspects of knowing one's own body. He introduced the concept of a "body map", where each organ corresponds to one or another concept and by which one can choose a "key" to understanding diseases. So the idea of \u200b\u200banxiety is associated in a person with the heart, and fears of poor quality food can be associated with the idea of \u200b\u200bthe digestive tract. That is, certain images in thinking are capable of generating a responsive autonomic reaction and autonomic chronic disorders. With the help of the formation of the correct "body map" the patient can develop adequate ideas and heal him from psychosomatic diseases. Feldenkrais psychocorrection is based on this approach. The modern "body map" is a projection of body parts in the human brain, as well as sensory and space-time awareness of the personality. And if we talk about the spatio-temporal content of the "body map", then A. Beck sees the cause of psychosomatic diseases in the negative content of the category "I", "the world" and "future", and J. Kelly - in the inability of a person to predict the behavior of others and related negative experiences with her.

According to William Glasser (1925 - 2013), psychosomatic illnesses, like depression, appear when a person does not properly control his behavior in the world around him. Psychosomatic reactions are also infantile attempts to control a situation (similar to how in childhood a person tried to look sick or unhappy in order to attract the attention of parents). Sometimes this occurs in the form of self-justification for misbehavior, sometimes in the form of inhibition of natural emotional reactions. This happens due to a person's insufficient understanding of his own needs and his own potential for control over the life situation. At the same time, psychological defense blocks the awareness of the "choice of suffering", because no one wants to realize that he himself is the cause of his own failure and illness. Often, such people fall under the negative controlling influence of relatives, which also causes somatization of psychological problems.

Depressive reaction and "psychosomatics" can also occur in the case of "conditioned" or "learned" helplessness (according to M. Seligman), when a person cannot change the situation and becomes subordinate, passive. E. Kleninger sees this scheme in the form of aggressive emotions with the loss of an object that is significant for the personality and depressive emotions when it is impossible to do so. Both those and other emotions are poorly expressed and not realized, they cause psychosomatic disorders. D. Klerman believes that this form of response leads to pathology only in a hypertrophied form, in other cases, it serves to adapt the personality.

According to K. Foster, depression and psychosomatic diseases occur if a person has lost the skills of adaptive behavior. The loss of these skills is due to a disruption in the emotional reward system. So, anger causes negative reinforcement and in order to avoid it, a person suppresses his anger, which causes bodily ailments and diseases. In the case of inconsistent reinforcement in childhood, a tendency towards depression and psychosomatic illness is formed in adulthood. Adaptation disorders can also be caused by changes in the external environment, for example, the loss of a loved one, a place of work, which was a source of positive reinforcement of emotions. This theory was also developed by Levinson and Costello.

Thus, we can see that several approaches have been formed in psychosomatics. The psychoanalytic approach (Alexander, Dunbar, Horney, etc.) focuses on internal psychological conflict as the main factor in the development of psychosomatic diseases. For the cognitive approach (P. Schilder, A. Beck, D. Kelly), it is peculiar to consider cognitive processes as the leading stimuli for personality development, the violation of which can affect the bodily health of a person. Within the framework of the behavioral approach (E. Klinger, L. Klerman, K. Foster and others), scientists defend the opinion that the strategy of behavior, in particular avoidance, can cause psychosomatic illness. Finally, supporters of the humanistic approach (A. Maslow, W. Frankl, K. Rogers) see the cause of psychosomatic disorders in crises caused by the impossibility of self-expression.

All this forms the modern theory and practice of psychosomatics and psychosomatic medicine.

.Diagnostics in psychosomatics and strategies of personality behavior

1Personality behavior strategies as an object of psychosomatics research

psychosomatics personality disorder therapy

In the previous section, we were able to see that many scientists consider psychosomatic disorders to be a consequence of the wrong behavior of people, in particular the response to stress. In modern psychosomatics, human behavior is considered the second important cause after alextimia, which causes psychosomatic disorders. A lot of attention is paid to strategies of behavior.

In the psychological literature, a number of terms are used (coping, coping actions, coping strategies, coping styles, coping behavior), with the help of which a person's individual adaptive response to a difficult life situation is determined. Under a difficult life situation, most researchers understand a situation that objectively disrupts the normal life of an individual and is difficult for an independent solution. Naturally, the success of getting out of a difficult life situation depends, first of all, on the person himself. An important indicator in the subjective picture of a difficult life situation is the idea of \u200b\u200bthe situation and the ways to overcome it.

Works devoted to the study of the ways of such overcoming or coping appeared in foreign psychology in the second half of the XX century. Coping comes from the English word cope (to overcome). In the robots of German authors, the term "bewaltіgung" (overcoming) is used. Copіng is an individual way of interacting with a situation in accordance with its personal logic, significance in a person's life and his psychological capabilities. In the works of Russian psychologists, we come across the interpretation of the concept of “coping” as overcoming (stress overcoming) or psychological overcoming of stress. The definition of coping behavior encompasses a range of problems, in the solution of which different conceptual approaches and interpretations of the studied phenomenon are revealed. Let's consider them in more detail.

According to Maslow, coping is the readiness of an individual to solve life problems by adapting to circumstances, which implies the formation of the ability to use certain means to overcome stress. In the case of choosing active forms of behavior, the effectiveness of eliminating the influence of stressors on the personality increases. Features are important skills associated with "Self-Concentration", locus of control, empathy, environmental conditions. According to the scientist, coping is opposed to expressive behavior.

Psychologists Richard Lazarus (1922 - 2002) and Susanne Volkman (1930) are considered to be the founders of the concept of "coping", who called coping - strategies, strategies for mastering and resolving relationships with the environment. R. Lazarus in his book "Psychologic Stress and Coping Process" ("Psychological stress and the process of overcoming it") turned to coping to describe the deliberate strategies for overcoming stress and other events that cause anxiety. These authors also introduced into our dictionary such concepts as hardiness and stress resistance.

In Russian psychology A.V. Libina coined the term "coping".

The concept of "coping" is interpreted differently in different psychological schools.

The first approach - neopsychoanalytic, was developed in the works of N. Haan, where coping is interpreted in terms of the dynamics of the ego, as one of the means of psychological defense, which is used to ease tension. Coping - processes are viewed as ego - processes aimed at the productive adaptation of the individual to difficult situations.

R. Lazarus and S. Volkman also consider coping as a dynamic process, which is determined by the subjectivity of the experience of the situation, the stage of development of the conflict, the collision of the subject with the outside world. They defined psychological coping as a person's cognitive and behavioral efforts to reduce the impact of stress.

V.A. Bodrov, within the framework of the resource approach, notes that external messages and external information can be a source of development of psychological stress. The essence of the resource approach lies in the fact that the effective preservation of mental and physical health by some people and their adaptation to various difficult life situations is explained by the successful “distribution of resources” (commerce of resources).

From the point of view of the psychodynamic approach, reactions to a crisis, difficult situations determine those qualities of the subconscious that do not manifest themselves in behavior in everyday life. N.V. The homeland identifies coping - strategies with the “tip of the iceberg” of anti-crisis behavior - strategies are realized by the individual, while psychological defense mechanisms reflect a deep, unconscious line of overcoming difficult situations, while they are primary in relation to coping strategies. Coping is viewed as a structural "superstructure" of the personality, which arises as a result of socialization, due to the interaction of crisis, difficult situations and unconscious motives of the personality.

The psychological purpose of coping behavior is to adapt a person to the requirements of the situation as best as possible, to master it, to weaken or soften its requirements, to avoid or get used to them, and thus to extinguish the stressful effect of the situation, and therefore to avoid the development of depression and psychosomatic disorders.

The use of active behavioral strategies for coping with stress and a relatively low susceptibility to stressful situations contribute to the improvement of well-being. And its deterioration and the growth of negative symptoms are caused by the effort to avoid the problem and the use of passive strategies aimed not at solving the problem, but at reducing emotional stress.

At the same time, the implementation of coping strategies can take place in three areas: behavioral, cognitive and emotional.

In general, scientists and practitioners refer to the basic coping strategies as the strategy of “problem solving”, “seeking social support” and “avoidance”. They are characterized by the following features:

A problem-solving strategy is an active behavioral strategy, using which a person seeks to use personal resources to find possible ways to effectively solve a problem;

The strategy of seeking social support is an active behavioral strategy, using which a person, in order to effectively solve a problem, turns to the environment for help and support: family, friends;

Avoidance strategy is a behavioral strategy, using which, a person seeks to avoid contact with the outside world, displacing the need to solve a problem.

Methods of avoidance include "withdrawal" into illness, increased use of alcohol and drugs. A variant of the active method of avoidance is suicide and self-destruction. Avoidance strategy is one of the leading behavioral strategies that promotes the formation of maladaptive pseudo-overcoming behavior. The result of this behavior is the emergence of mental and psychosomatic diseases.

Classical coping, a taxonomy proposed by M. Stewart and M. Reicherts, orders actions and coping reactions according to their orientation: to a situation (active influence, flight, passivity); on representation (search or suppression of information); for evaluation (making sense, re-evaluating, changing purpose).

2Diagnostics in patients with psychosomatic disorders

Therefore, the diagnosis of psychosomatics most often begins with a diagnostic conversation, which allows you to determine not only the patient's complaints, but also his attitude to life, behavior strategies.

At the first stage of the conversation after establishing contact, a psychologist or psychotherapist should find out the time of the onset of conversion symptoms, and in more severe cases, the functional syndrome or psychosomatosis. This period should be correlated with important events in the patient's life. If a life crisis is found, a problem that influenced the development of a psychosomatic illness, then it is important to find out whether the patient himself understands the cause of his illness. To this end, the diagnostician should delve into not only the patient's personality, but also study the conditions of his upbringing in childhood, conflicts in the process of socialization and social life. It is better to evoke the patient's memories in the form of free associations.

It is important to take into account the whole complex of external and internal factors that could affect the onset of psychosomatic pathology. It is necessary to find out what exactly causes difficulties in the patient's life, how he overcomes these difficulties, how he interacts with his family, friends, colleagues, how he himself relates to his illness. In this case, non-verbal signals are also taken into account, for example, posture, gestures, facial expressions of the patient, which makes it possible to understand whether he is holding back his emotions. In a relationship with a psychotherapist, the patient is likely to show the strategies of psychological defense that are familiar to him. A specialist in working with a patient can use encouragement, provocations, and then making sure not to lose confidence on the part of the patient. The patient should have the feeling that he himself is learning something new about his personality and life.

Pauses when the patient is silent are especially important in a diagnostic conversation. This means that he remembers and rethinks, so it is better not to rush and not interrupt him. Often, psychologists and psychotherapists confront the resistance of a patient who denies the psychogenic nature of his illness. This can complicate the diagnostic process.

During subsequent conversations, the specialist can apply test research methods. It is important that they are simple, do not require a lot of time, can complement each other, and have a high total validity. Most often, when working with patients suffering from psychosomatic disorders, personality tests are used: the Toronto alexithymia scale, G. Eysenck's test questionnaire (EPI) and the method of multifactorial research of personality by R. Cattell, the Minnesota multidimensional personality questionnaire, the test of differential self-assessment of functional state (SAN), personality questionnaire of the Bekhterev Institute - LOBI, less often other specialized tests, for example, the Rorscharch test, the Beck or Zung depression scale.

The purpose of testing is to determine the basic qualities of the patient's personality, his attitude to the disease and ways to overcome problems. In this case, it is important to identify concomitant mental disorders, for example, neuroses, depression, anxiety disorders. In combination with diagnostic conversations, this allows you to determine the cause of the psychosomatic disorder, make a diagnosis and choose the most effective therapy.

3.Therapy for psychosomatic diseases

Treatment of psychosomatic diseases after diagnosis is carried out in several stages: the provision of emergency care (possibly with hospitalization), short-term and long-term treatment. Long-term treatment includes psychotherapy, drug treatment of mental and somatic disorders, and rehabilitation.

When prescribing drug therapy, specialists adhere to the principles of individuality, combinatorialism and dynamic correction of the patient's condition. This means that for each patient a certain set of drugs is selected, their dosage, treatment is adjusted depending on the change in the patient's condition. But drug therapy is ineffective without psychotherapy.

The methods of psychotherapy are selected individually depending on the causes of the psychosomatic illness. This can be supportive psychotherapy, group and family psychotherapy, auto-training, clinical and psychosomatic treatment (inpatient), etc. Practitioners focus on a variety of treatment methods, which increases their effectiveness. In addition to psychotherapy, it is important to carry out therapy for somatic symptoms, for example, prescribing exercise therapy for patients, massages, physiotherapy procedures, and breathing exercises. In the presence of genuine somatic diseases, it is important not to aggravate their course. Therapy can be carried out with the participation of a neurologist, therapist, pediatrician, when it comes to treating a child. But the priority is the treatment of a psychiatrist. The change of doctors should not exclude continuity in order to avoid an abrupt change in therapeutic methods.

Thus, at present, the proposed principles of therapy for psychosomatic disorders can be systematized, highlighting the following main areas:

Clinical and psychological (general) principles (individualization, mediation, relationships, environment, humanism);

Clinical and dynamic principles (consistency - complexity, stages, preference of therapy);

Clinical and pathogenetic principles (mandatory use of antidepressants, differentiation of therapy for depressive disorders, sedation therapy taking into account the affect of anxiety, localization of somatic disorders, cerebral-organic insufficiency and patient personality traits).

When distributing psychosomatic patients, the internal picture of the disease and the presence of nosogenies are taken into account. The internal picture reflects the attitude of patients to the disease. Here the situational and personal options stand out. In the first variant, the course of the disease is mainly due to external factors, for example, unfavorable living conditions. In the second variant, psychological deformations of the personality play a key role. A patient with a second picture often requires long-term psychotherapy, while patients with a situational variant of the development of the disease require a medium-term complex of psychotherapeutic and physiotherapeutic methods to reduce somatization.

Patients with somatic diseases may develop nosogeny - psychogenic reactions to illness, as a traumatic factor. The formation of nosogenies is also influenced by the internal picture of a somatic disease.

Distinguish between neurotic, affective and pathocharacterological nosegenia. For neurotic nosogenias, the presence of anxiety-phobic disorders and "neurotic denial" is characteristic. The patient experiences fear of the disease, of the imaginary impossibility of rehabilitation, he tries to either exaggerate or deny the influence of the disease on his life, becomes very suspicious, prone to hypochondria.

Affective nosogenias are often reduced to the occurrence of depression or hypomania. Patients may experience severe depression or, on the contrary, an uplifting mood, bordering on euphoria, they inadequately assess their condition.

Pathocharacterological syndromes are represented by the following options: hypernosognosic in the form of overvalued ideas (hypochondria of health) and the syndrome of “pathological denial of the disease”.

For the treatment of nosogenies in psychosomatics, a combination of psychotherapy and psychopharmacotherapy has been developed. And humanistic psychotherapy, gestalt therapy, art therapy have established themselves as effective means of combating alexithymia. It is difficult to cure this cause of the development of psychosomatic diseases, but it is possible to reduce the severity of negative manifestations.

Psychotherapy for various types of psychosomatic diseases differs depending on the organs affected, for example, psychotherapy for bronchial asthma, differs from psychotherapy for gastrointestinal diseases or pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. Recently, the treatment of anorexia nervosa and other eating disorders has become a very topical area of \u200b\u200bpsychosomatics.

Modern psychosomatics is developing in the direction of improving the solution of therapeutic problems. In the near future, the methods of psychosomatic research and behavioral therapy will be improved, functional and institutional ties between medicine, psychology and psychosomatics will be strengthened.

Conclusion

Psychosomatics is an interdisciplinary area of \u200b\u200bscientific knowledge that studies the relationship between somatic diseases (diseases of the body) and the psychological causes of their occurrence.

The object of study of psychosomatics is the personality of a patient suffering from a psychosomatic disorder and individual psychosomatic manifestations. And the subject is psychosomatic phenomena, their structure, functions, evolution in various types of pathologies.

The active development of psychosomatics as a science began at the beginning of the last century. During this time, a number of approaches to understanding psychosomatic phenomena have been formed. The psychoanalytic approach (Alexander, Dunbar, Horney, etc.) focuses on internal psychological conflict. For the cognitive approach (P. Schilder, A. Beck, D. Kelly), it is peculiar to consider cognitive processes as the leading causes of the development of diseases. Within the framework of the behavioral approach (E. Klinger, L. Klerman, K. Foster and others), scientists defend the opinion that the strategy of behavior, in particular avoidance, can cause psychosomatic illness.

On the basis of these approaches, modern specialists consider psychosomatic diseases as a result of incorrect personality behavior, when a person chooses not a strategy for solving problems and seeking social support in the fight against stress (coping - strategy "), but avoidance tactics (going into illness, addictions, etc. .). Emotional stress in this case increases, the mechanisms of psychological defense are disrupted and somatization occurs, that is, a bodily reaction to stress. A specific mental disorder - alexithymia - also plays an important role. Therefore, in the course of psychosomatic diagnostics, including interviews and testing, the specialist must determine the nature of the psychosomatic disorder and choose an individual therapy program for the patient. At the same time, the psychiatrist works closely with physicians of a different profile.

List of used literature

1.Andreev I.L., Berezantsev A.Yu. Psychosomatics, psychotherapy, personality (theoretical aspect) // Russian psychiatric journal. 2012. No. 2. S. 39-46.

.Bakirova Z.A., Mochalov S.M., Kukso P.A. Consequences of violation of the psychoemotional sphere of man // News of the Samara Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. 2010. T. 12.No. 3-2. S. 382-385.

.Ginger S., Ginger A. Practical guide for psychotherapists. - M .: Academic project, 2014 .-- 240 p.

.Zhukova N.V. Internal Medicine Clinic. Fundamentals of psychosomatics. Psychiatry. - M .: Man, 2010 .-- 48 p.

.A.A. Krasnov and other Fundamentals of psychosomatics. - St. Petersburg: Publishing House of St. Petersburg University, 2012 .-- 112 p.

.Kulakov S.A. Psychosomatics. - M .: Speech. - 320 p.

.Lebedeva V.F., Semke V.Ya., Yakutenok L.P. Mental disorders with somatic diseases. - Tomsk, Publishing House "Ivan Fedorov", 2010. - 326 p.

.Maslow A. Motivation and personality. - SPb .: Peter, 2014 p.

.Petrova N.N. Fundamentals of psychosomatic medicine. - St. Petersburg: Publishing House of St. Petersburg University. - 72 p.

.Psychosomatics. Physicality and culture. Ed. V.V. Nikolaeva. - M .: Academic project, 2009 .-- 311 p.

.Semykina E.Yu. Difficult life situation and coping - behavior in the research of foreign and domestic psychologists // Humanities and social sciences Interuniversity collection of scientific papers. Magnitogorsk, 2011.S. 160-167.

.Starshenbaum G.V. Psychosomatics and psychotherapy. Healing of soul and body. - M .: Phoenix, 2014 .-- 350 p.

.Stepanova O.P. Coping - the behavior of psychosomatic patients // Personality in the context of modern social changes, materials of the All-Russian scientific and practical conference. Magnitogorsk, 2010.S. 152-164.

.Stress, burnout, coping in a modern context. - M .: Institute of Psychology RAS, 2011 .-- 512 p.

.Tereshchuk E.I. The unity of soul and body // Psychiatry, psychotherapy and clinical psychology. 2012. No. 1. S. 147-153.

.Fedotova M.A., Belyaeva N.S. Personal harmonization: an innovative approach // Social and humanitarian knowledge. 2013. No. 11. S. 135-141.

.Horney K. Our internal conflicts. Constructive theory of neurosis. - M .: Canon + ROOI "Rehabilitation", 2012. - 288 p.

.Shanina G.E. Psychohygiene and psychoprophylaxis. - M .: Logos, 2013 .-- 148 p.

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Psychosomatic illnesses are illnesses in the development of which psychological factors, including psychological stress, play a leading role. Psychological factors play an important role in other diseases as well: migraines, endocrine disorders, malignant neoplasms

1. Not able to cope with something. Terrible fear. The desire to get away from everyone and everything. Reluctance to be here.
2. Feelings of futility, inadequacy. Self-rejection.

Allergy.

1. Who do you hate? Denial of one's own strength.
2. A protest against something that cannot be expressed.
3. It often happens that the parents of an allergic person often argued and had completely different views on life.

Appendicitis. Fear. Fear of life. Blocking out all that is good.

Insomnia.

1. Fear. Distrust of the life process. Guilt.
2. Flight from life, unwillingness to recognize its shadow sides.

Vegetative dystonia.

Weight: problems.

Excessive appetite. Fear. Self-defense. Distrust of life. Feverish overflow and relief from self-loathing.

Obesity.

1. Hypersensitivity. Often symbolizes fear and the need for protection. Fear can serve as a cover for hidden anger and unwillingness to forgive. Trust in yourself, in the very process of life, refraining from negative thoughts - these are the ways to lose weight.
2. Obesity is a manifestation of a tendency to defend against something. The feeling of inner emptiness often awakens the appetite. Eating provides many people with a sense of acquisition. But the mental deficit cannot be filled with food. Lack of trust in life and fear of life's circumstances plunge a person into an attempt to fill the spiritual emptiness with external means.

Lack of appetite. Denial of privacy. Intense feelings of fear, self-hatred and self-denial.

Thinness. Such people do not like themselves, they feel insignificant compared to others, they are afraid of being rejected. And so they try to be very nice.

Cellulite (inflammation of the subcutaneous tissue).Accumulated anger and self-punishment. Makes herself believe that nothing is bothering her.

Inflammatory processes. Fear. Rage. Inflamed consciousness. The conditions you see in life cause anger and frustration.

Hirsutism (excess body hair in women). Latent anger. The commonly used cover is fear. The urge to blame. Often: unwillingness to engage in self-education.

Eye diseases. The eyes symbolize the ability to clearly see the past, present, future. You may not like what you see in your own life.

Astigmatism. Rejection of one's own self. Fear of seeing yourself in your true light.

Myopia.Fear of the future.

Glaucoma.The stubborn unwillingness to forgive. Old grievances crush. Overwhelmed by it all.

Hyperopia. Feeling out of this world.

Cataract. Failure to look ahead with joy. Foggy future.

Conjunctivitis.Something happened in life that caused a lot of anger, and this anger is amplified by the fear of repeating this event.

Blindness, retinal detachment, severe head injury. A harsh assessment of the behavior of another person, jealousy coupled with contempt, arrogance and toughness.

Dry eyes.Evil eyes. Reluctance to look with love. I'd rather die than forgive. Sometimes a manifestation of malevolence.

Barley.

1. It occurs in a very emotional person who cannot get along with what he sees.
2. And who feels anger and irritation when he realizes that other people see the world differently.

Head: diseases. Jealousy, envy, hatred and resentment.

Headaches.

1. Underestimating yourself. Self-criticism. Fear. Headaches happen when we feel inferior, humiliated. Forgive yourself and your headache will go away on its own.
2. Headaches often come from low self-esteem, as well as from low resistance to even minor stresses. A person complaining of constant headaches literally all consists of psychological and physical tension and tension. The usual state of the nervous system is to be always at the limit of your capabilities. And the first symptom of future diseases is a headache. Therefore, doctors who work with such patients first teach them to relax.
3. Loss of contact with your true Self. The desire to meet the high expectations of others.
4. Striving to avoid any mistakes.

Migraine.

1. A hatred of compulsion. Resistance to the course of life.
2. Migraines are created by people who want to be perfect, as well as those who have accumulated a lot of irritation in this life.
3. Sexual fears.
4. Hostile envy.
5. Migraine develops in a person who does not give himself the right to be himself.

Throat: illness.

1. Failure to stand up for yourself. Swallowed anger. Creativity crisis. Unwillingness to change. Throat problems arise from the feeling that we “have no right” and from the feeling of our own inferiority.
2. The throat, in addition, is the part of the body where all our creative energy is concentrated. When we resist change, we tend to have throat problems.
3. You need to give yourself the right to do what you want, without blaming yourself and not being afraid to disturb others.
4. A sore throat is always an irritation. If he is accompanied by a cold, then, besides this, there is also confusion.

Angina.

1. You refrain from harsh words. Feel unable to express yourself.
2. Feel angry that you cannot handle a situation.

Laryngitis. Anger gets in the way of speaking. Fear gets in the way. I am overwhelmed.

Tonsillitis.Fear. Suppressed emotions. Silenced creativity. Conviction in their inability to speak for themselves and independently seek to satisfy their needs.

Hernia. Broken relationship. Tension, burden, improper creative expression.

Childhood diseases.Belief in calendars, social concepts and far-fetched rules. The adults around them behave like children.

Adenoids. A child who feels unwanted.

Asthma in children. Fear of life. Unwillingness to be here.

Eye diseases. Unwillingness to see what is happening in the family.

Otitis

The habit of biting your nails.Hopelessness. Self-criticism. Hate one of the parents.

Staphylococcus aureus in children. An irreconcilable attitude towards the world and towards people from parents or ancestors.

Rickets.Emotional hunger. Need for love and protection.

Childbirth: deviations. Karmic.

Diabetes.

1. Longing for the unfulfilled. Strong need for control. Deep sorrow. Nothing pleasant remained.
2. Diabetes can be triggered by a need to control, sadness, and an inability to accept and internalize love. The diabetic cannot stand affection and love, although he longs for them. He unconsciously rejects love, despite the fact that at a deep level he has a strong need for it. Being in conflict with himself, in rejection of himself, he is not able to accept love from others. Finding inner peace of mind, openness to accept love and the ability to love is the beginning of getting out of the disease.
3. Attempts to control, unrealistic expectations of universal happiness and sadness to the point of despair from the fact that this is not feasible. Inability to live your life, because it does not allow (does not know how) to rejoice and enjoy your life events.

Respiratory tract: disease.

1. Fear or refusal to breathe life in full breast. Do not acknowledge your right to occupy space or even exist.
2. Fear. Resistance to change. Distrust of the process of change.

Asthma.

1. Inability to breathe for your own good. Feeling overwhelmed. Restraining sobbing. Fear of life. Unwillingness to be here.
2. It seems to a person with asthma that he has no right to breathe on his own. Asthmatic children are usually children with a highly developed conscience. They take the blame for everything.
3. Asthma occurs when a family has suppressed feelings of love, suppressed crying, a child experiences fear of life and does not want to live anymore.
4. Asthmatics express more negative emotions, are more often angry, offended, conceal anger and a thirst for revenge in comparison with healthy people.
5. Asthma, lung problems are caused by the inability (or unwillingness) to live independently, as well as a lack of living space. Asthma, convulsively holding back the air currents entering from the outside world, testifies to the fear of frankness, sincerity, of the need to accept the new that brings every day. Gaining trust in people is an important psychological component that contributes to recovery.
6. Suppressed sexual desires.
7. Wants too much; takes more than it should and gives with great difficulty. He wants to seem stronger than he is, and thus arouse love for himself.

Sinusitis.

1. Suppressed self-pity.
2. Prolonged “all against me” situation and inability to cope with it.

Runny nose. Request for help. Internal crying. You are the victim. Lack of recognition of one's own worth.

Nasopharyngeal discharge. Baby crying, inner tears, feeling of sacrifice.

Nosebleeds.The need for recognition, the desire for love.

Sinusitis. Irritation caused by a loved one.

Cholelithiasis.

1. Bitterness. Heavy thoughts. Curses. Pride.
2. They look for the bad and find it, scold someone.

Stomach diseases.

1. Horror. Fear of the new. Inability to learn new things. We don't know how to assimilate a new life situation.
2. The stomach is sensitive to our problems, fears, hatred of others and ourselves, dissatisfaction with ourselves and our fate. Suppression of these feelings, unwillingness to admit them to oneself, an attempt to ignore and "forget" them instead of thinking, understanding and resolving them can cause various gastric disorders.
3. Gastric functions are upset in people who bashfully react to their desire to receive help or love from another person, a desire to lean on someone. In other cases, the conflict is expressed in a sense of guilt due to the desire to take something by force from another. The reason why gastric functions are so vulnerable to such conflict is that food represents the first explicit gratification of the receptive-collective desire. In a child's mind, the desire to be loved and the desire to be fed are deeply connected. When, at a more mature age, the desire to receive help from another causes shame or shyness, which is often in a society whose main value is independence, this desire finds regressive satisfaction in an increased craving for food. This craving stimulates gastric secretion, and a chronic increase in secretion in a predisposed individual can lead to ulceration.

Gastritis.

1. Lingering uncertainty. Feeling of doom.
2. Irritation.
3. Strong outburst of anger in the immediate past.

Heartburn.

1. Fear. The grip of fear.
2. Heartburn, excess gastric juice indicates displaced aggressiveness. The solution to the problem at the psychosomatic level is seen as the transformation of the forces of the suppressed into action of an active attitude to life and circumstances.

Ulcers of the stomach and duodenum.

1. Fear. The firm belief that you are flawed. We are afraid that we are not good enough for our parents, bosses, teachers, etc. We literally can't stomach who we are. We try to please others every now and then. No matter what position you hold at work, you may have a complete lack of self-esteem.
2. In almost all ulcer patients, there is a deep inner conflict between the desire for independence, which they value highly, and the need for protection, support and guardianship inherent in childhood.
3. These are people trying to prove to everyone that they are needed and irreplaceable.
4. Envy.
5. People with peptic ulcer disease are characterized by anxiety, irritability, increased diligence and a heightened sense of duty. They are characterized by low self-esteem, accompanied by excessive vulnerability, shyness, resentment, self-doubt and, at the same time, increased demands on themselves, suspiciousness. It is noticed that these people strive to do much more than they really can. They tend to actively overcome difficulties combined with strong inner anxiety.
6. Anxiety, hypochondria.
7. Repressed feelings of dependence.
8. Irritation, indignation and at the same time helplessness from trying to change yourself, adjusting to someone's expectations.

Teeth: diseases.

1. Prolonged indecision. Failure to recognize ideas for analysis and decision making. Loss of the ability to confidently immerse in life.
2. Fear.
3. Fear of failure, to the point of losing faith in yourself.
4. The instability of desires, uncertainty in achieving the chosen goal, awareness of the insurmountability of life's difficulties.
5. The problem with the teeth tells you that it is time to move on to action, to concretize your desires and start realizing them.

Gums: Diseases. Failure to comply with decisions. Lack of a clearly expressed attitude towards life.

Bleeding gums.

Infectious diseases. Weakness of the immune system.

1. Irritation, anger, frustration. Lack of joy in life. Bitterness.
2. Triggers are irritation, anger, annoyance. Any infection indicates an unresolved mental breakdown. The weak resistance of the body, on which infection is superimposed, is associated with a violation of mental balance.
3. Weakness of the immune system is caused by the following reasons:
4. Self-dislike;
5. Low self-esteem;
6. Self-deception, betrayal of oneself, therefore, lack of peace of mind;
7. Hopelessness, despondency, lack of taste for life, suicidal tendencies;
8. Internal discord, contradictions between desires and deeds;
9. The immune system is associated with self-identity - our ability to distinguish ours from others, to separate "I" from "not I".

Stones.They can form in the gallbladder, kidneys, prostate. As a rule, they appear in people who for a long time carry in themselves some kind of heavy thoughts and feelings associated with dissatisfaction, envy, jealousy, etc. A person is afraid that others will guess about these thoughts. A person is rigidly focused on his ego, will, desires, perfection, abilities and intelligence.

Cyst. Constant scrolling in the head of previous grievances. Improper development.

Intestines: problems.

1. Fear of getting rid of everything obsolete and unnecessary.
2. A person makes hasty conclusions about reality, rejecting all of it, if he is not satisfied with only a part.
3. Irritability due to inability to integrate conflicting aspects of reality.

Anorectal bleeding (blood in the stool). Anger and frustration. Apathy. Resistance to feelings. Suppression of emotions. Fear.

Hemorrhoids.

1. Fear of not meeting the allotted time.
2. Anger in the past. Weighed down feelings. Inability to get rid of accumulated problems, resentments and emotions. The joy of life drowns in anger and sadness.
3. Fear of parting.
4. Suppressed fear. Got to do the work you don't like. Something urgently needs to be completed in order to receive certain material benefits.

Constipation.

1. Unwillingness to part with outdated thoughts. Stuck in the past. Sometimes sarcastic.
2. Constipation testifies to an excess of accumulated feelings, ideas and experiences that a person cannot or does not want to part with, cannot make room for new ones.
3. The tendency to dramatize an event in your past, the inability to resolve that situation (complete the gestalt)

Irritable bowel syndrome.

1. Infantilism, low self-esteem, a tendency to doubt and self-blame.
2. Anxiety, hypochondria.

Colic. Irritation, impatience, dissatisfaction with the environment.

Colitis. Uncertainty. Symbolizes the ability to easily part with the past. Fear of letting go of something. Insecurity.

Flatulence.

1. Tightness.
2. Fear of losing meaningfulness or being in a hopeless situation. Anxiety about the future.
3. Unrealized ideas.

Indigestion. Animal fear, horror, restlessness. Grunts and complaints.

Belching.Fear. Too greedy attitude towards life.

Diarrhea. Fear. Renouncement. Escape.

Colon mucosa. Layering of obsolete confused thoughts clogs the slag removal channels. You are trampled in the sticky quagmire of the past.

Skin: diseases. Reflects what a person thinks about himself, the ability to value himself in the face of the world around him. A person is ashamed of himself, attaches too much importance to the opinions of others. Rejects himself as others reject him.

1. Anxiety. Fear. Old sediment in the shower. They threaten me. Fear of being hurt.
2. Loss of sense of self. Refusing to take responsibility for your own feelings.

Abscess (abscess). Disturbing thoughts of hurt, neglect, and revenge.

Herpes is simple. An intense desire to do everything badly. Unspoken bitterness.

Fungus. Backward beliefs. Unwillingness to part with the past. Your past dominates the present.

Itching.Desires that run counter to character. Dissatisfaction. Repentance. The desire to get out of the situation.

Neurodermatitis.A patient with neurodermatitis has a pronounced desire for physical contact, suppressed by the restraint of the parents, therefore, he has violations in the organs of contact.

Burns. Anger. Internal boiling.

Psoriasis.

1. Fear of being hurt, hurt.
2. Death of feelings and self. Refusing to take responsibility for your own feelings.

Acne (pimples).

1. Disagreement with yourself. Lack of self-love;
2. A sign of a subconscious desire to alienate others, not to be considered. (i.e. not enough self-respect and acceptance of yourself and your inner beauty)

Furuncle. A particular situation poisons a person's life, causing intense feelings of anger, anxiety and fear.

Neck: diseases.

1. Unwillingness to see other sides of the issue. Stubbornness. Lack of flexibility.
2. Pretends not to be bothered by the disturbing situation.

Eczema.

1. Irreconcilable antagonism. Mental breakdowns.
2. Uncertainty about your future.

Bones, skeleton: problems.A person values \u200b\u200bhimself only for what is useful to others.

Arthritis.

1. Feeling that you are not loved. Criticism, resentment.
2. They cannot say no and accuse others of being exploited. For such people, it is important to learn to say “no” if necessary.
3. An arthritic is one who is always ready to attack, but suppresses this urge in himself. There is a significant emotional influence on the muscular expression of feelings, which is extremely tightly controlled.
4. Desire for punishment, self-reproach. The victim's condition.
5. A person is too strict with himself, does not allow himself to relax, does not know how to express his desires and needs. The "inner critic" is too well developed.

Herniated intervertebral discs. The feeling that life has completely deprived you of support.

Rachiocampsis.Inability to follow the flow of life. Fear and attempts to keep outdated thoughts. Distrust of life. Lack of integrity of nature. No audacity of belief.

Loin pain. Unfulfilled expectations in the field of interpersonal relationships.

Radiculitis.Hypocrisy. Fear for money and for the future.

Rheumatoid arthritis.

1. Extremely critical of the exercise of strength. Feeling like you're being charged too much.
2. In childhood, these patients have a certain style of upbringing aimed at suppressing the expression of emotions with an emphasis on high moral principles, it can be assumed that constantly, from childhood, suppressed inhibition of aggressive and sexual impulses, as well as the presence of an overdeveloped Superego, forms a maladaptive protective mental mechanism - repression. This defense mechanism involves the conscious repression of disturbing material (negative emotions, including anxiety, aggression) into the subconscious, which in turn contributes to the emergence and growth of anhedonia and depression. The following become predominant in the psychoemotional state: anhedonia - a chronic deficit of a sense of pleasure, depression - a whole complex of sensations and feelings, of which low self-esteem and a sense of guilt, a feeling of constant tension, are most characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis. the mechanism of suppression prevents the free release of psychic energy, the growth of internal, latent aggressiveness or hostility. All these negative emotional states, with prolonged existence, can cause dysfunctions in the limbic system and other emotiogenic zones of the hypothalamus, changes in activity in the serotonergic and dopaminergic non-mediator systems, which in turn leads to certain shifts in the immune system, and together with the emotionally dependent tension in the periarticular muscles (due to constantly suppressed psychomotor agitation) can serve as a mental component of the entire mechanism of development of rheumatoid arthritis.

Back: diseases of the lower part.

1. Fear over money. Lack of financial support.
2. Fear of poverty, material distress. I have to do everything myself.
3. Fear of being used and getting nothing in return.

Back: diseases of the middle part.

1. Guilt. Attention is riveted on everything that is in the past. "Leave me alone".
2. The conviction that no one can be trusted.

Back: diseases of the upper part.Lack of moral support. Feeling that you are not loved. Restraining feelings of love.

Blood, veins, arteries: diseases.

1. Lack of joy. Lack of movement of thought.
2. Inability to listen to your own needs.

Anemia. Lack of joy. Fear of life. Belief in one's own inferiority takes away the joy of life.

Arteries (problems). Arterial problems - the inability to enjoy life. Doesn't know how to listen to his heart and create situations associated with joy and fun.

Atherosclerosis.

1. Resistance. Tension. Refusal to see the good.
2. Frequent grief due to sharp criticism.

Phlebeurysm.

1. Staying in a situation you hate. Disapproval.
2. Feeling overwhelmed and overwhelmed by work. Exaggerating the severity of the problem.
3. Inability to relax due to feelings of guilt while enjoying pleasure.

Hypertension, or hypertension (high blood pressure).

1. Overconfidence - in the sense that you are willing to take on too much. As much as it is not able to withstand.
2. There is a direct link between anxiety, impatience, suspicion and the risk of hypertension.
3. Due to the self-confident desire to take on an unbearable load, work without rest, the need to justify the expectations of the people around, to remain significant and respected in their person, and in this regard, the repression of their deepest feelings and needs. All this creates a corresponding internal tension. It is advisable for hypertensive patients to leave the pursuit of the opinions of the people around them and learn to live and love people, first of all, in accordance with the deepest needs of their own heart.
4. Emotion, not reactively expressed and deeply hidden, gradually destroys the body. Patients with high blood pressure mostly repress emotions such as anger, hostility, and rage.
5. Situations that do not give a person the opportunity to successfully fight for the recognition of his own personality by others, excluding a feeling of satisfaction in the process of self-assertion, can lead to hypertension. A person who is suppressed, ignored, develops a feeling of constant dissatisfaction with himself, which does not find a way out and makes him “swallow offense” every day.
6. Hypertensive patients who are chronically ready to fight have dysfunction of the circulatory apparatus. They suppress the free expression of hostility towards other people because of the desire to be loved. Their hostile emotions seethe, but have no outlet. In their youth, they can be bullying, but with age they notice that they push people away from themselves with their vindictiveness and begin to suppress their emotions.

Hypotension, or hypotension (low blood pressure).

1. Despondency, insecurity.
2. The ability to independently create your own life and influence the world has been killed in you.
3. Lack of love in childhood. Defective mood: "It won't work anyway."

Hypoglycemia (low blood glucose).Overwhelmed by the hardships of life. "Who needs it?"

Pulmonary diseases.

1. Depression. Sadness. Fear of perceiving life. You think you are unworthy to live life to the fullest. Constant internal rejection of the situation.
2. The lungs are the ability to take and give life. Lung problems usually arise from our unwillingness or fear to live life to the fullest, or from the fact that we believe that we do not have the right to live to the fullest. Those who smoke a lot usually deny life. They hide behind a mask a sense of their inferiority.
3. Disruption of the lungs suggests that a person has a bad life, he is tormented by some kind of pain, sadness. He feels despair and frustration and does not want to live anymore. He may have the feeling that he has been driven into a dead end, deprived of the freedom to act

Bronchitis.

1. Nervous atmosphere in the family. Arguments and screams. A rare lull.
2. One or more family members drive them into despair by their actions.

Pneumonia (pneumonia)Despair. Tired of life. Emotional wounds that are not allowed to heal.

Tuberculosis.

1. Hopelessness.
2. Waste due to selfishness, possessiveness.
3. Severe resentment towards yourself, towards fate. Dissatisfaction with the country, government, world. Revenge.

Enphysema.You are afraid to breathe life in full breast. You think you are unworthy of life.

Lymph: diseases.A warning to refocus on the most important thing in life: love and joy.

Adrenal glands: diseases.

1. Defective mood. An overabundance of destructive ideas. Feeling overwhelmed. Disregard for oneself. Sense of anxiety. Acute emotional hunger. Self-directed anger.
2. A person experiences many unrealistic fears associated with the material side of his life. A person is constantly on the alert, because he senses danger.

Nervous system: diseases.

Neuralgia. Punishment for sinfulness. The pangs of communication.

Paralysis. Fear. Horror. Avoiding a situation or person. Resistance. Paralyzing thoughts. Dead end.

Multiple sclerosis. Rigidity of thinking, hard-heartedness, iron will, lack of flexibility. Fear.

Epilepsy. Persecution mania. Denial of life. Feeling of intense struggle. Self-violence.

Legs: diseases. Self-destruction program, dissatisfaction with oneself, the situation, one's position. For the sake of welfare, the willingness to harm another or despise oneself if there is no welfare.

Hips: Diseases. Fear of moving forward on major decisions. Lack of purpose.

Knees. Stubbornness and disgust. Inability to be a pliable person. Fear. Inflexibility. Unwillingness to give in.

Feet. Problems.Inability to be “here and now”, distrust of oneself and the world.

Numbness. Restraining feelings associated with love and respect, the withering away of emotions.

Liver: diseases.

1. Malice. Resistance to change. Fear, anger, hatred. The liver is the seat of anger, rage, primitive emotions.
2. Constant complaints, pickiness.
3. Unexpressed anger, sadness and resentment.
4. Anger because of the fear of losing something and the inability to do something about it.

Jaundice. Internal and external bias. Unilateral conclusions.

Gout.The need to dominate. Intolerance, anger.

Pancreas: diseases. Complaints to a loved one, a desire to break off relations with him.

PancreatitisRejection; anger and despair: life seems to have lost its appeal.

Sexual diseases.Suppression of love in others and in yourself.

Infertility. Fear and resistance to the life process or lack of need for parenting experience.

Sexually transmitted diseases. Feelings of sexual guilt. The need for punishment. Confidence that the genitals are sinful or unclean.

Genital herpes.The belief that sexuality is bad.

Women's diseases.

1. Self-rejection. Refusal of femininity. Rejection of the principle of femininity.
2. The belief that anything related to the genitals is sinful or unclean. It is incredibly difficult to imagine that the Force that created the entire Universe is just an old man who sits on his clouds and ... watches our genitals! And yet this is what many of us were taught when we were children. We have so many problems with sexuality because of our self-hatred and self-loathing. Sexual organs and sexuality are made for joy.

Amenorrhea, dysmenorrhea (menstruation disorder). Unwillingness to be a woman. Self-dislike. Hatred of the female body or women.

Vaginitis (inflammation of the vaginal mucosa). Anger at a partner. Feelings of sexual guilt. Punishing yourself. The belief that women are powerless to influence the opposite sex.

Miscarriage. Fear of the future. "Not now - after." Wrong timing.

Chest: disease. He tries his best for the sake of those he loves, and forgets about his own needs, puts himself in last place. At the same time, he unconsciously gets angry at those he cares about, because there is no time to take care of himself.

Menopause: Problems. Fear that they are losing interest in you. Fear of aging. Self-loathing.

Fibroma, cyst. Remember the insult from your partner. A blow to female pride.

Endometriosis Feelings of insecurity, grief and frustration. Replacing self-love with sugar. Reproaches.

Impotence.Male erectile dysfunction is most commonly caused by physical factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and genital injury. In addition to purely physiological problems, emotional factors also contribute. A list of emotional factors that can cause male inconsistency in bed:

1. Feeling overwhelmed
2. Feelings of anxiety and nervousness
3. Stress from work, family, or financial problems
4. Unresolved issues between a man and his sexual partner. Sexual pressure, tension, guilt. Social beliefs. Anger at a partner. Fear of the mother.
5. Feelings of awkwardness and shyness. Fear of not being up to par. Self-flagellation.
6. Fear of a partner's reaction
7. Fear of rejection

Candidiasis.

1. The tendency to think of sex as dirty. And guilt.
2. Sexual anger; a sense of deception in this area of \u200b\u200blife.

Prostate: diseases. Inner fears weaken masculinity. You start to give up. Sexual tension and guilt. Belief in aging.

Childbirth: difficulties. Increased pride in the child's mother.

Frigidity.Fear. Rejection of pleasure. The belief that sex is bad. Unfeeling partners.

Perspiration with an unpleasant odor.The person is angry with himself for holding back his emotions. Cannot allow himself to experience negative emotions. Fear. Self-loathing. Fear of others.

Kidneys: diseases.

1. Criticism, disappointment, failure. A shame. Reaction like a small child.
2. Fear.
3. Kidney problems are caused by judgment, disappointment, failure in life, criticism. These people constantly think that they are being deceived and trampled upon. Pride, a desire to impose one's will on others, a harsh assessment of people and situations.
4. Neglecting your own interests, believing that taking care of yourself is not good. A person may not even understand what is good for him. Puts too much hope in other people. He tends to idealize them, he needs someone to fulfill the role of ideal people. Therefore, disappointments are inevitable.

Nephritis.

1. Overreacting to disappointments and failures.
2. Feeling like a worthless child doing everything wrong.

Kidney stones.

1. Clots of undissolved anger.
2. He closes his mouth and hides a secret malice in his soul.

Cold.Too many events at the same time. Confusion, confusion. Minor grievances.

Mental illness.

Depression.The anger that you think you have no right to feel. Hopelessness.

Psychosis.Escape from the family. Self-withdrawal. Desperate life avoidance.

Schizophrenia.Will, mind, an attempt to subordinate and control the situation in the mother.

Cancer. Oncological diseases.Above all, cancer blocks pride and discouragement.

1. Keeping old grievances in the soul. Increasing feelings of dislike.
2. You cherish old grievances and upheavals. Remorse of conscience increases.
3. Deep wound. An old grudge. Great secret or grief haunt, devour. Persistence of feelings of hatred.
4. Cancer is a disease caused by a deep, accumulated resentment that literally begins to eat away at the body. Something happens in childhood that undermines our faith in life. This incident is never forgotten, and the person lives with a feeling of tremendous self-pity. It is sometimes difficult for him to have a long, serious relationship. Life for such a person consists of endless disappointments. The feeling of hopelessness and hopelessness prevails in his mind, it is easy for him to blame others for his problems.
5. People with cancer are very self-critical.
6. Reliable people, able to overcome difficulties, who avoid conflict situations by suppressing their feelings. For them, according to research, the risk of cancer is increased.
7. Cancer patients often belong to the category of people who put the interests of others above their own, it can be difficult for them to allow themselves to fulfill their own emotional needs without feeling guilty.
8. Hopelessness and helplessness in response to severe emotional loss.
9. A person suppresses the shadow side of his personality in himself, forbidding himself to show negative emotions and feelings. Too bright, harmless people - not because there is no negative side of the personality, but because the personality is refined.

Stretching. Anger and resistance. Unwillingness to follow a specific path in life.

Rheumatism.

1. A sense of your own vulnerability. Need for love. Chronic grief, resentment.
2. Rheumatism is a disease acquired from constant criticism of oneself and others. People with rheumatism tend to be attracted to people who constantly criticize them. They are cursed - this is their desire to constantly be perfect, with any people, in any situation.

Mouth: diseases. Bias. Closed mind. Inability to perceive new thoughts.

Oral herpes. A contradictory state in relation to one object: you want (one part of the personality), but not (according to the other).

Bleeding of the gums.Lack of joy about decisions made in life.

Wounds on the lips or mouth. Poisonous words held back by the lips. Accusations.

Hands: diseases.Ability and intelligence come first.

Spleen.Obsession with something. Obsessions.

Heart: diseases of the cardiovascular system.

1. Long-standing emotional problems. Lack of joy. Callousness. Belief in the need for tension, stress.
2. The heart symbolizes love, and the blood symbolizes joy. When we do not have love and joy in our lives, the heart literally contracts and becomes cold. As a result, the blood begins to flow more slowly and we gradually go to anemia, vascular sclerosis, heart attacks (heart attack). We sometimes get so entangled in the dramas of life that we create for ourselves that we do not at all notice the joy that surrounds us.
3. The need of the mind for rest. The expulsion from the heart of all joy for the sake of money or a career, or something else.
4. The fear of being accused of not loving is what causes all heart disease. Striving at all costs to seem loving, capable and positive.
5. Feelings of loneliness and fear. “I have flaws. I don't do much. I will never achieve this. "
6. A person has forgotten about his own needs in an effort to earn the love of others. The belief that love can be earned.
7. As a result of a lack of love and security, as well as emotional isolation. The heart reacts to emotional shocks by changing the rhythm. Heart disorders are due to inattention to one's own feelings. A person who considers himself unworthy of love, does not believe in the possibility of love, or who forbids himself to show his love for other people, will certainly face manifestations of cardiovascular diseases. Finding contact with your true feelings, with the voice of your own heart, greatly alleviates the burden of heart disease, eventually leading to partial or complete recovery.
8. Ambitious, determined workaholics were categorized as personality type A. They are more prone to stress and are at increased risk of high blood pressure and heart disease.
9. Inadequately high level of claims.
10. A tendency to excessive intellectualization combined with isolation and emotional impoverishment.
11. Suppressed feelings of anger.

Senile diseases. Return to the so-called "childhood safety". Requirements of care and attention. This is a form of control over others. Avoidance (escapism).

Convulsions.Voltage. Fear. Strive to grab, catch on.

Injuries, wounds, cuts. Punishment for deviating from your own rules. Feelings of guilt and self-directed anger.

Animal bites.Anger turned inward. The need for punishment.

Insect bites.Feelings of guilt over little things.

Ears: diseases.

Deafness.Rejection, stubbornness, isolation .

Otitis (inflammation of the external auditory canal, middle ear, inner ear). Anger. Reluctance to listen. There is noise in the house. Parents quarrel.

Tags: psychosomatics of diseases, psychosomatic diseases

Cholesterol: high.Clogging of the channels of receipt of joy. Fear of accepting joy.

Cystitis (bladder disease).

1. Anxiety. Hang on to old ideas. Afraid to give yourself freedom. Angry.
2. Anger that others do not live up to their expectations. Including the expectations that someone will make your life happy.

Urinary tract infection. Irritation. Anger - Usually towards the opposite sex or sex partner. You place the blame on others.

Urethritis (inflammation of the urethra).Spitefulness. They bother you. The accusation.

Thyroid gland: diseases.

1. Humiliation. Victim. Feeling of a warped life. Failed personality.
2. Feeling like life has attacked you. "They're trying to get to me."
3. Living in a constant rush, at an unnatural pace for you.
4. Control over the situation. Wrong attitude towards the world.

Endocrine diseases.

Thyrotoxicosis (endocrine disease).In patients with thyrotoxicosis, a deep fear of death is found. Very often, such patients at an early age had psychological trauma, for example, the loss of a loved one on whom they depended. So afterwards, they tried to compensate for the addiction impulse by trying to grow up early, for example by trying to patronize someone, instead of remaining in the addicted position themselves. Therefore, in a patient who seeks to reach maturity as soon as possible, an organ that secretes a secret that speeds up metabolism becomes ill.

In ancient times, the main strength of a person was the power of his physical body; the development and training of muscles made it possible to feel protected and have authority among fellow tribesmen. The modern world requires more mental strength from a person, forcing him to cope with stress on a daily basis. Stereotypical opinions and judgments imposed on a person drown out his own feelings, thoughts and aspirations. Mental pain from internal personality conflicts, stress, relationship problems is often fixed in the body.

Thoughts and feelings send invisible impulses from the brain to the body, forcing it, one way or another, to react to a stimulus. So, for example, a sudden feeling of fear provokes an adrenaline rush: heart rate increases, muscles tense. But if a person constantly lives in fear, these physiological reactions are fixed in his body and accompany him on a daily basis. It is very difficult to be in such continuous tension, and the body fails.

In a strong and prolonged stressful situation, the human body, in order to protect the psyche, takes a blow on itself - this is how psychosomatic diseases — diseases, the causes of which are more the mental processes of the patient than directly any physiological reasons. If medical examination cannot find a physical or organic cause of the disease, or if the disease is the result of emotional states such as anger, anxiety, depression, guilt, then the disease can be classified as psychosomatic.

Term psychosomaticsconsists of two Greek words: psyche - " soul"and soma -" body", which very accurately reflects the essence of psychosomatic medicine, which considers human diseases as a defensive reaction of the human body system to emotional experiences. The most common definition is psychosomaticsas a direction in medicine and psychology, which studies the influence of psychological factors on the occurrence and course of somatic (bodily) diseases .

For example, experts identify the following probable psychological causes of some diseases:

• Alcoholism - Feelings of guilt and worthlessness;
• Allergy - Intolerance of some situation or some kind of relationship;
• Insomnia - Distrust of the life process, guilt;
• Gastritis - Frightening uncertainty, squirrel-in-a-wheel feeling;
• Headache - Self-underestimation, self-criticism, fear;
• Liver disease - Anger;
• Kidney disease - Frustration, failure, intense self-criticism;
• Colds - Too many events at the same time, the desire to "lie down" aside.

However, if the path to illness lies through stress, through a negative perception of reality, pessimism and distrust of the world, then the path of recovery is also obvious - faith and love, awareness of unity with the world, gaining the spiritual meaning of life. Thus, health is harmony at all levels of our being: in relationships with ourselves, with people, with nature, with God.

A person who is in a harmonious relationship with his environment can endure extreme physical and mental stress, avoiding illness .

The main treatment tool in psychosomatics is psychotherapy. In a diagnostic conversation, the doctor finds out not only the symptoms of the disease, but also the presumptive factors of its development: the patient's mental state, stressful situations during the onset of the disease, the patient's relationship with others and his outlook on life.

Self-analysis of the patient, his recognition of the psychological factors in the development of the disease and the decision to change the habitual self-destructive emotional reactions to positive, healing, uniting with the environment is the first step towards healing.

In general, the concept of the unity of soul and body goes back to the centuries-old principles of Chinese medicine, the proto-Slavic practice of healing, the ancient Indian teachings about the world and other knowledge of ancient cultures.

European medicine has focused on potent drugs as a means of numbing pain - signals of a suffering soul, as if denying the interconnection of the body's illness and mental discomfort.

Psychosomatic approach in the 19th century as an applied psychoanalysis in medicine. Cases of diseases caused by an emotional state are intensively studied by psychologists, described and classified, and methods of diagnosis and treatment are developed.

In the 20th century, scientists formed a list of seven classic psychosomatic diseases:

• essential hypertension;
• peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum;
• rheumatoid arthritis;
• hyperthyroidism (thyrotoxicosis);
• bronchial asthma;
• ulcerative colitis;
• neurodermatitis.

The area is currently expanding psychosomatic medicine due to the appeal to age-old wisdom, specialists increasingly combine modern and ancient knowledge and practices for treatment psychosomatic diseases... It " return to soul"in medicine, it reflects the trend of increasing public interest in the spiritual part of life, striving for harmony between the material and subtle worlds, for general purification and healing.

Once at a reception with the famous psychotherapist Milton Erickson, a young woman complained that her body, arms and neck were covered with psoriasis. Erickson answered her: "You don't have even a third of the psoriasis that you think you have."... Erickson insisted on his opinion, which caused her strong irritation: in her opinion, he greatly underestimated the severity of her illness. Erickson continued: “You have a lot of emotions. You have a little psoriasis and a lot of emotions. There are a lot of emotions on your hands, on your body, and you call it psoriasis ".

He continued in the same vein, and the patient left in great irritation and was angry with Erickson for two weeks. Two weeks later, she came back and showed several spots on her hands. That was all that was left of her psoriasis. By irritating her and provoking her to be angry with himself, Erickson gave vent to her emotions.

Psychosomatic disorders - these are diseases, various kinds of ailments and disorders of bodily functioning, arising mainly under the influence of psychological causes. In a person suffering from a psychosomatic illness, emotional experiences are expressed in the form of bodily symptoms.

It has long been noted that the bodily symptoms that appear in psychosomatic disorders very often (although perhaps not always) symbolically reflect the patient's problem. In other words, psychosomatic symptoms are often bodily metaphors for psychological problems.

For example, one man came to me about extrasystole. As you know, our heart beats at a certain rhythm. There is a pause between the two contractions, during which the heart rests. If the heart cannot withstand this rest pause and contracts out of turn, this is called extrasystole. At the same time, the person himself experiences unpleasant sensations of "interruptions" in the heart.

This man in his professional development has grown to a certain ceiling, and was eager to make a qualitative leap in his career in order to rise one step up. Career advancement was delayed, which caused him constant stress. The extraordinary contractions of his heart seemed to express his desire to quickly take this step in his career.

Another patient in the recent past experienced an extremely unpleasant event for herself, about which she continued to experience excruciating feelings of guilt. Unconsciously, she really wanted to return to the past, and live that period of time anew, without this event.

As a result, she developed reflux esophagitis - a disease in which gastric juice from the stomach moves in the opposite direction - into the esophagus, causing inflammation. The change in gastric motility in the opposite direction symbolically expressed the patient's desire to play back the important events of her life.

Another patient experienced her husband's betrayal for two years, their intimate life disappeared and her husband “shied away” from her. In the end, she began to feel "untouchable." As a result, she developed neurodermatitis.

Classical psychosomatic diseases include: bronchial asthma, ulcerative colitis, essential hypertension, neurodermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, gastric ulcer and duodenal ulcer.

Currently, this list has expanded significantly - from coronary heart disease to some infectious diseases and oncology. The psychosomatic also includes functional syndromes, for example, irritable bowel syndrome, arrhythmias, as well as conversion syndromes, such as psychogenic blindness, deafness, psychogenic paralysis, etc.

Causes of psychosomatic diseases

Among the causes of psychosomatic diseases, intrapersonal conflicts, psychological trauma of an early age, alexithymia (inability to recognize and express in words one's feelings), some character traits, such as the inability to express aggression, anger, and defend one's interests in an acceptable way are important; secondary benefit from the disease.

Treatment of psychosomatic diseases

The treatment of patients with psychosomatic diseases can be carried out by representatives of various psychotherapeutic schools and directions. This can be psychoanalysis, gestalt therapy, NLP, cognitive-behavioral and family therapy, various types of art therapy, etc. For patients with alexithymia, various modifications of body-oriented therapy or hypnosis may be more appropriate.

I will give an example of treatment from my practice. I was approached by a patient who, from time to time, for no apparent reason, suddenly developed stomatitis (ulcers of the oral mucosa). On the eve of another exacerbation, the patient, along with her four-year-old daughter, was returning from the guests. All the way home, my daughter was whining and complaining how tired she was, how she wanted to eat and sleep. The patient felt guilty and became more and more nervous. By the time she and her daughter returned home, the patient was so worried that she lost control of herself and slapped her daughter in the butt.

As a child, the patient's mother beat and scolded her, and she made a promise to herself that she would never hurt her children. After spanking her daughter, she felt even more guilty. The next morning stomatitis appeared.

At the consultation, we agreed that stomatitis is a reaction to the experience of anger and guilt associated with the mother's role: her mother's anger towards her, her anger towards her daughter, guilt towards the mother and daughter - all woven into one ball ...

Since the patient was professionally interested in Russian folk tales, she chose a bear as an image symbolizing her anger. During a session of Ericksonian hypnosis in a state of trance, in her imagination she saw this bear and played with it. In the next session, the patient “saw” herself in the auditorium of the cinema. A forest clearing was visible on the screen, her mother stood in the clearing, and opposite her mother she was a little girl, and between them was a bear. He covered her from her mother and beat her mother with his paws. At the same time, the patient experienced a storm of feelings, she was "shaking". Probably during this session there was a reaction and transformation of her accumulated anger towards her mother.

After this session, stomatitis no longer bothered the patient, whose state of health was subsequently followed for seven years. (This patient is also mentioned in the article