Psychosomatics stands for “psycho” – soul, that is, emotions, “soma” – body.
Psychologist Elena Katsyuba explained how to identify obvious psychosomatics.
Thus, psychosomatics is the connection between our brain, psyche and body. This connection leads to the fact that a person can influence physical processes in the body with his thoughts and internal attitudes.
They say that all illnesses are caused by nerves. But this is not true. There are clear exceptions. These include damage to the body due to external influences, accidents.
For example, fractures, burns, frostbite, poisoning, consequences of radioactive radiation, etc. It is pointless to see psychosomatics in such cases.
It is also very controversial to look for a connection with psychosomatics if we are talking about genetic disorders. But this should be confirmed by appropriate tests, and not by unfounded statements about the heredity of the disease.
If this is really a genetic problem, then it is unlikely that a psychologist will be able to solve it.
How can we determine obvious psychosomatics? There is a simple test. In psychosomatic disorders, the symptom appears under certain conditions, then disappears. This can be seen well in the example of stuttering.
If a person stutters all the time and has no moments when he is able to speak normally, then most likely this is a consequence of serious physiological disorders of the speech apparatus.
But if the symptom suddenly disappears when a person, for example, is left alone and talks to his cat, then it may be psychosomatic.
This is also clearly seen in the example of impotence. A man may have problems in bed with women he meets for the first time, but at the same time there are no misfires with his wife. This is definitely psychosomatic.
The question arises: if the causes of many disorders are psychosomatic disorders, does this mean that the condition can only be cured through a psychosomatologist? Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Our body has a certain resource and a point of no return. If a person turns to a specialist at the initial stage of the disease, then, most likely, he will really solve his problem. The result will depend, among other things, on the qualifications of the psychologist.
But if psychosomatic disorders have led to serious diagnoses, for example, to the development of oncological diseases, then you need to go not to a psychologist, but to doctors who will treat the consequences.
Can psychosomatics be an additional tool? Of course. In parallel with the main treatment, you can communicate with a psychosomatologist to eliminate the root cause of the disease and reduce the emotional intensity. These actions will strengthen the main therapy.