Psychosomatic illness is a condition that is generally difficult to diagnose and very poorly understood. Most of the time, people don’t take their sufferers seriously because they believe it’s all in their heads. The patients themselves do not accept that their illness is linked to their emotional state or to an anxiety disorder rather than to an organic origin.

In any case, psychosomatic disorders such as stress eczema or fibromyalgia are not imaginary affections. What’s more, the physical signs they imply are real and must be treated promptly like any other illness.

Psychosomatic illness: real or imaginary?

You feel ill and go for a check-up, but the tests reveal absolutely nothing. But you’re in pain and your symptoms are real. Despite treatment and a new series of in-depth tests, there’s still nothing. The doctors can’t pinpoint the real cause of your condition. You don’t understand why, despite your suffering, they say they have no medical explanation?

Are you feigning or imagining your illness? Of course not, since you’re in such bad shape. Finally, a specialist suspects a psychosomatic illness and takes a closer look at your life. The diagnosis is clear: a psychic stimulus (stress, failure, fear, trauma…) may be the cause of your ailment. But how can this be?

PSYCHOSOMATIC ILLNESSES: HOW CAN OUR EMOTIONAL STATE AFFECT OUR BODY?
It’s always hard to understand how a psychological factor can trigger an organic ailment. Let me explain. For example, you’ve probably already experienced fear and felt stomach pains, palpitations, chest pain or headaches… Exactly like a psychosomatic illness, these physical pains felt in different parts of the body are due to fear or anxiety that has provoked a state of stress to which the body has responded.

Medicine today recognizes that the mind and body are intimately linked, and that one can affect the other. Thus, any stressful situation or anxiety disorder (emotion, anxiety, stress, trauma…) that can affect the mind or spirit can have serious effects on a person’s general state of health, by lowering their immune defenses or affecting one of their organs.

A psychosomatic disorder often appears when suffering and negative emotions have been contained for a long time. The sufferer expresses his or her discomfort, stress, anger and sadness through the body.

SO, WHAT IS A PSYCHOSOMATIC ILLNESS?
It’s an illness whose symptoms are physical, but which is triggered by a psychic factor. In other words, you suffer from a condition whose origin is partially or totally psychological (anxiety, stress, moral distress, overwork…), but which manifests itself through physical signs. Among the most common psychosomatic illnesses are: stress eczema, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, muscular pain, lower back pain, abdominal pain…

We also speak of psychosomatic disorders when mental factors cause physical symptoms, but in the absence of physical illness. In other words, a psychosomatic illness is a pathology that has no organic cause and is caused or aggravated by one or more psychological factors. For example, you have chest pain because you’re stressed, even though you have no physical illness.

In the broadest sense, a psychosomatic condition is one that involves both mind and body. To a certain extent, most illnesses are psychosomatic. Indeed, there is a psychological aspect to every physical illness. The way we react or cope with it can have an impact on how it develops. For example, if a person realizes that he or she has cancer, this can lead to depression and a worsening of the condition.

A psychosomatic illness is when a physical disease is likely to be aggravated by psychological factors or an anxiety disorder such as stress.

PSYCHOSOMATIC DISORDERS: CAUSES AND MANIFESTATIONS
Psychosomatic illnesses are numerous and can affect anyone, at any time of life. Permanent stress, psychological suffering or conflict (fear, anger…), psychological shock (divorce, accident, loss of job) or anxiety can all be at the root of a psychosomatic illness. Symptoms vary according to the individual and the type of psychological disorder:

pain in different parts of the body (head, back, chest, abdomen, lower abdomen) ;
Dizziness, shortness of breath, tightness, prickling or tightness in the chest, arrhythmias;
Stomach or intestinal disorders accompanied by nausea, feeling of fullness, abdominal pain, irregular bowel movements;
Irritable bladder, difficulty urinating…

There is a wide range of illnesses and physical conditions that can be caused or aggravated by mental factors. These include conditions such as:

stress eczema,
psoriasis,
fibromyalgia,
high blood pressure,
heart problems,
gastrointestinal disorders,
asthma, headaches,
coronary heart disease,
colopathy,
idiopathic colic (in babies and children),
anorexia and bulimia…

PSYCHOSOMATIC ILLNESS: TREATMENT OPTIONS
Before making a diagnosis, the doctor must ensure that there is no physical cause for the symptoms. To ensure this, he or she carries out a full clinical examination and complementary tests (biology, radiology, specialist opinions).

Once the diagnosis has been confirmed, the doctor offers psychological and physical treatment, depending on the symptoms and the individual. Although a physical cause must always be sought, psychological treatment can, in most cases, identify and relieve symptoms. Here are some possible treatments:

Psychotherapy with a psychologist or psychiatrist helps relieve the symptoms of psychosomatic illness by accessing the psyche. For an effective global approach, the specialist may recommend Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or mind-body approaches such as psycho-organic analysis, Adlerian psychology or psychosomatherapy.
Physiotherapy: Physiotherapy, the Feldenkrais method, respiratory therapy, functional relaxation, dance therapy and art therapy often help to alleviate symptoms.
Stress management techniques such as mindfulness meditation, relaxation, yoga and hypnosis are also highly effective.
Medication also has its place in the treatment of psychosomatic illnesses (anxiolytics, antidepressants, neuroleptics, antiepileptics and beta-blockers).

WHAT TO REMEMBER?
Psychosomatic illnesses such as stress eczema are generally considered to be imaginary or inexplicable. What’s more, it’s generally difficult to diagnose. That’s why doctors need to pay close attention to their patients’ psychology.

There’s no denying that psychological factors play a part in all pathological situations. Nevertheless, some clinical cases are more amenable to the psychosomatic approach than others, i.e. without biomedical explanation. Psychosomatic disorders have the following characteristics:

The cause is psychological, not physical or organic (trauma or emotional shock);
Symptoms, signs and manifestations are real (pain, headaches, fever, etc.);
No abnormality after clinical examination and additional tests (radiology, MRI, CT scan, blood tests, etc.).
When faced with a psychosomatic condition, the best option is to set up a comprehensive treatment program combining medical and psychological care. Psychological follow-up helps patients to identify the anxiety disorder or psychological cause of their illness, so that they can deal with it effectively.