What is psychosomatic pain?
Psychosomatic pain is often a serious physical health problem that may originate from long-term stress or mental health problems. Chronic daily stresses in our lives are insidious and harmful in their long-term biological consequences (Maté, G. 2003).
I hear often from my clients how their medical doctor cannot find any underlying physical problem to their pain and therefore cannot offer treatment. However, their pain is very real and present in their lives. Convincing their doctor that the pain is real may cause further anxiety, stress and helplessness. The body and the mind are not two separate entities, they exist together. Psychosomatic pain is your body sending you a message to stop and listen to its needs.
What can cause psychosomatic pain?
Psychosomatic problems may occur in people who have experienced:
– Sexual abuse
– Trauma
– Childhood abuse/neglect
– Difficulty recognising and expressing own emotions
– Long-term stress or depression
How can psychosomatic disorder affect the body?
Psychosomatic disorders can affect almost the body in a number of ways, including:
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Aches and pains
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Trouble breathing (dyspnea, or shortness of breath)
- Indigestion problems and feeling bloated and other abdominal pain
- Headaches and migraines
- Reflux
- Erectile dysfunction (impotence)
- Skin rash (dermatitis)
- Stomach ulcers (peptic ulcer disease)
- Suppressed immune system
How does counselling help?
Psychological counselling helps to find the underlaying and often unconscious root of psychosomatic pain (e.g., childhood trauma). Counselling can help you to be more self-aware of your stressors, triggers, emotions and thought patterns and can help you change the way you respond to them. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) enables clients to acquire new coping strategies and gain insight into their emotions, thoughts and behaviour patterns.
Suggested reading
- Maté, G. (2019), “When the Body Says No. The Cost of Hidden Stress”. Penguin Random House Publishing. ISBN 9781785042225.