Somatization is a psychiatric disorder in which the person presents multiple physical complaints, located in various organs of the body, such as pain, diarrhea, tremors and shortness of breath, but which are not explained by any disease or organic change. Generally, a person with psychosomatic illness is often in medical appointments or emergency rooms because of these symptoms, and the doctor usually has difficulty finding the cause.
This situation is also called somatization disorder, and is common in people anxious and depressed, so for the appropriate treatment is essential to conduct psychotherapy, in addition to monitoring with the psychiatrist, which may indicate medications such as antidepressants and anxiolytics to help to alleviate the problem.
Most common psychosomatic diseases
Each person can manifest his or her emotional tensions in different organs physically and can simulate or worsen many diseases. The main examples are:
- Stomach : pain and burning in the stomach, feeling sick, worsening gastric ulcers and gastric ulcers;
- Intestine : diarrhea, constipation;
- Throat : feeling of a lump in the throat, easier irritations in the throat and tonsils;
- Lungs : sensations of shortness of breath and suffocation, which may mimic pulmonary or cardiac diseases;
- Muscles and joints : tension, contractures and muscle pain;
- Heart and circulation : a sensation of chest pain, which may even be confused with infarction, in addition to palpitations, onset or worsening of high blood pressure;
- Kidneys and bladder : pain or difficulty urinating, which can mimic urologic diseases;
- Skin : itching, burning or tingling;
- Inner region : worsening of impotence and decreased sexual desire, difficulty in becoming pregnant and changes in the menstrual cycle;
- Nervous system : headache, migraine, changes in vision, balance, sensitivity (numbness, tingling) and motor, which may mimic neurological diseases.
The person with somatization disorder may suffer for many months or years with these symptoms until the cause is discovered. Check out more symptoms that can arise in psychosomatic diseases.
In addition, there are diseases that can be triggered or worsened by stressful situations, especially inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, or diseases such as fibromyalgia or irritable bowel syndrome, for example.
How to confirm
The diagnosis of a psychosomatic illness should be made by a psychiatrist, but a general practitioner or other specialist may point to this possibility because they exclude the presence of other diseases through physical and laboratory examination.
The presence of the main symptoms helps to identify the problem, and they are fast heart, tremors, dry mouth, feeling of shortness of breath and a lump in the throat, and can be more or less intense according to worsening or improvement of the emotional state of each person. To confirm this disorder, the doctor will identify in his evaluation the existence of at least 4 symptoms, the most common being the gastrointestinal ones, those that imitate neurological diseases or that affect the intimate region.
What Causes Psychosomatic Illness
There are several situations that facilitate the development of somatization, such as depression, anxiety and stress. The most affected people are those who suffer situations such as:
- Professional fatigue and overtime work affect mainly people working with the public as teachers, salespeople, and health professionals, but students and the unemployed can also suffer from these complications;
- Trauma in childhood or after marked events, in addition to family conflicts are some situations that can leave the person afraid and unmotivated to move forward;
- Situations of psychological violence and demotivation, as in cases of domestic violence and bullying;
- Lots of anxiety and sadness in people who do not share or talk about their problems.
Failure to seek treatment for these conditions because of difficulty in seeking help or because it is considered a normal situation can aggravate the symptoms or cause physical illness.
How is the treatment done?
Treatment for these diseases may involve the use of medications such as painkillers, anti-inflammatories and antihistamines to alleviate their symptoms; however, it is important to follow a psychologist or psychiatrist to learn to control emotions, and treat the true cause of the problem.
Antidepressants, such as sertraline or fluoxetine, and anxiolytics, such as clonazepam, for example, prescribed by the psychiatrist, help calm and lessen anxiety, and psychotherapy sessions are important to assist in resolving internal conflicts.
Some simple and natural steps can also help deal with emotional issues, such as taking chamomile and valerian soothing teas, taking a vacation to rest the mind and trying to solve one problem at a time. Doing some form of physical exercise like walking, running, yoga or pilates can also help promote well-being.
Learn more tips for controlling anxiety.
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