Psychosomatic Illness: Definition, Symptoms, and Treatment

Psychosomatic refers to physical symptoms that are worsened or complicated by mental factors. In psychiatric illness, emotional stress or other psychological problems play a key role during the physical signs and symptoms.

For example, depression can contribute to psychiatric illness, especially when the body’s immune system has been weakened by acute or chronic stress.

Unfortunately, the widespread social stigma of mental illness prevents some people from seeking treatment. The stigma also exists in the research and medical communities, in part because of health professionals’ own experiences.

Psychiatric symptoms

Knowing how mental and emotional stress manifests physically can help reduce the effects of stress on your health. Common physical symptoms of stress include:

Psychological symptoms based on sex

Physical symptoms of stress can vary between the sexes. For example, when stressed, women assigned to childbirth often report symptoms such as fatigue (despite getting enough sleep) and irritability, as well as symptoms such as bloating and menstrual changes.

However, stress symptoms in those assigned male at birth are more likely to include chest pain, increased blood pressure, and changes in sex drive.

Age-related psychological symptoms

Signs and symptoms of stress also vary by age. Children often experience stress in a physical way because they have not yet developed the language to communicate how they feel. For example, a child who is having a hard time at school may have frequent stomachaches or headaches.

Stress can be particularly intense in the teenage years, especially during periods of major social adjustment and hormonal shifts. Often, adults attribute stress symptoms to typical “teen angst” rather than teen depression.

Most adults also suffer from depression as they cope with loneliness, loss and grief, and health problems. If you’re caring for an aging loved one, it’s important to know the symptoms of depression in older adults.

Causes of mental illness

The exact mechanisms of stress are not fully understood, but researchers know that stress and depression can manifest as physical pain and illness. It’s a complicated process, but here’s an analogy that might help.

Compare your body to a pressure cooker. If it is allowed to vent its steam, it works efficiently. If it can’t release steam, the pressure continues to build until the lid blows. Now, imagine that the cooker is already under pressure and you apply more pressure to keep the lid on. When the container can no longer withstand all the pressure, it will break at its weakest point.

Someone who is under stress and is unable to control or control their emotions will eventually reach an emotional breaking point. This can result in physical symptoms or an episode of major depression.

In retrospect, you can recognize some warning signs that a break is coming. For example, if you strain your neck, you may experience increased neck pain when you strain. Back pain, stomach upset, and headaches are other common ways for stress to take up residence in your body.

Stress can also compromise your immunity. For example, some people catch colds, flu, or other illnesses and infections when under stress and may take longer to get better.

Part of the body’s fight-or-flight response to stress is the release of certain chemicals, such as adrenaline, which can be very useful in a life-or-death situation. However, if these chemicals are present in large amounts in the body or are released continuously over an extended period of time (such as with chronic stress), they can do more harm than good.

Diagnosis of psychiatric illness

When you see a health care provider for physical symptoms, they look first for physical reasons. If neither is clear, it can be difficult to come up with a diagnosis and treatment plan.

When unable to find a clear physical cause for your pain (such as an injury or infection), a holistic health care provider may ask you how you feel emotionally. The hope is that, if a source of stress can be identified, it can be treated—just as with any obvious physical injury or illness.

When a therapist asks about stress in your life, for example, they’re not implying that your pain isn’t real. Physical symptoms due to stress are Very real, but they are caused by a much different mechanism than bone breaks.

Treatment of psychiatric illness

You may be referred to mental health professionals, but that doesn’t mean your physical symptoms Only psychological treatment is needed. Learning how to manage stress effectively is important, but it can take time. In the meantime, your doctor can treat your physical pain and other symptoms with medication, mindfulness therapy, or cognitive therapy.

Returning to the neck pain example: If it gets worse with stress, learning to deal with stressful stimuli can certainly help – but the pain is real.

Although stress may start in your brain, it can cause the release of chemicals (such as cortisol) that cause inflammation in your neck muscles. This causes you very real physical pain that your healthcare provider can address.

Another way to think of mental illness is like a river that floods after a dam breaks. The most effective way to prevent excessive flooding is to repair the dam. However, the flood that has already occurred must be dealt with while the dam is being repaired.

Coping with stress

There are different types of stress. Positive stress, also known as eustress, makes life dynamic and interesting. It’s that feeling that makes you want to get up in the morning and keeps you motivated. If you’ve ever enjoyed the thrill of a roller coaster ride or felt a sense of excitement and accomplishment when completing a project, you’ve experienced “good” stress.

Just like with positive stress, you can feel negative stress in your mind and body. When you can identify your main sources of stress, you can learn coping mechanisms. One of the first and foremost is to avoid holding onto your emotions. Another is to avoid unhealthy strategies, such as overindulging on alcohol.

There are many healthy ways to cope. It’s a matter of finding what works best for you. Here are some ideas to get you started.

• Be honest with others and yourself.
• Confide in a friend.
• Do something kind for someone else. (Be sure to do good things for yourself, too.)
• Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, and create a calm sleep ritual and space.
• Explore fun outlets for stress relief, such as dance classes.
• Join a support group.
• Learn relaxation techniques.
• Let go of relationships, thought patterns, and relationships that are unhealthy or negative for you.
• Make time for leisure activities that you enjoy.
• If you are in a stressful situation, take a break.

Remember that everyone handles stress in their own way. Two people can react very differently to the same stressful situation. Once you understand how stress affects you emotionally and physically, you can work on developing healthy and effective ways to manage it.

In dealing with mental illness and the physical effects of stress, learn to let go of what is not serving you. First, accept that you are human, and allow yourself some grace. Then, do difficult but necessary emotional work, such as allowing yourself to feel emotions that are difficult to cope with.

Also, let go of expectations and old guilt – the “shoulders” that are guiding your behavior. You may benefit from easing the tendency to strive for control or perfection in certain areas of your life.

Remind yourself that it’s okay to fall short of your goals as long as you’re trying and doing your best. When you are identifying stress in your life, you may realize that a major source is stressing you out.