Psychosomatic Disorder

What Is Psychosomatics?

Psychosomatics is a field within psychosomatic medicine that explores the deep connection between the mind and the body. It helps us understand how emotions, thoughts, and experiences influence physical health.

We can think of the psyche as a vast inner world that contains everything we have ever thought or felt - even memories we no longer consciously recall. When experiences are stressful or threatening, they can overwhelm our nervous system. If we suppress or ignore them, the body may start expressing this emotional tension through psychosomatic symptoms such as pain, fatigue, or digestive problems.

This is the essence of a psychosomatic condition - when emotional distress manifests as physical illness.

What Are the Causes of Psychosomatic Illnesses?

Psychosomatics is a field within psychosomatic medicine that explores the deep connection between the mind and the body. It helps us understand how emotions, thoughts, and experiences influence physical health.

We can think of the psyche as a vast inner world that contains everything we have ever thought or felt—even memories we no longer consciously recall. When experiences are stressful or threatening, they can overwhelm our nervous system. If we suppress or ignore them, the body may start expressing this emotional tension through psychosomatic symptoms such as pain, fatigue, or digestive problems.

This is the essence of a psychosomatic condition—when emotional distress manifests as physical illness.

What Are the Causes of Psychosomatic Illnesses?

Have you ever fallen ill at the most inconvenient moment? Even a simple virus can sometimes force us to rest when we’ve been pushing ourselves too hard. In psychosomatic medicine, this is seen as the body’s way of saying “stop” —a protective reaction to emotional or physical overload.

The causes of psychosomatic illness are often internal conflicts between what we want and what we think we should do. For example, a person who longs to rest might still push themselves out of fear of failure. When such inner tension persists, it can create long-term psychosomatic complaints.

Common psychosomatic causes include:

• lack of rest and sleep
• problems in relationships
• excessive stress at work or school
• long-term anxiety or depression
• feelings of guilt

How Can I Tell If My Condition Is Psychosomatic?

You may have suffered from headaches for years. Sometimes your distress worsens, sometimes it seems to subside. Over the years, you've undergone many examinations, always with negative findings. You may even be doubting yourself. You're supposed to be perfectly healthy. So where does this persistent pain come from?

Typical signs of psychosomatic disorders include:

• the problem lasts for a long time (it is chronic) - the symptoms may diminish, only to intensify again
• specialist medical tests do not come back positive - if your doctor is not sure what is causing your problem, psychosomatics may be to blame

But to make things less clear, psychosomatic illness can also manifest itself in exactly the opposite way. The first thing that is detected may be a symptom without consciously experiencing it ourselves. Such an example might be a cancer patient or a couple confronted with infertility.

What are the Most Common Psychosomatic Problems?

To varied degrees, the origin, development, and course of most diseases are linked to our psyche. At the same time, any illness will have an impact on our lives on all levels.

Pain in numerous sections of the body is common, for example (migraines, limb pain, joint pain, painful movement, tooth pain, back pain, and so on). Asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, atopic eczema, allergies, and Crohn's disease are examples of chronic psychosomatic disorders.

The location of the symptom in the body may be related to its function, but it may also be related to a symbolic likeness that is linked to a specific memory or previous experience. A grain of barley, for example, may suffice when we don't want to see anything, such as adultery or a situation we'd rather avoid.

Pain and psychosomatics

Psychological problems - mental stress, strain or anxiety - can cause different kinds of pain, especially long-term ones. We call these causes of pain psychosomatic and they manifest themselves throughout our bodies. We've listed some of them:

Back problems

It's not just physical causes behind back pain, but psychological ones too. Back pain can be the result of internal tension or stress.

The back is often a dumping ground for our feelings, emotions and conditions that have caused us pain.

Skin problems

Skin problems are usually brought on by increased stress, but lack of self-confidence can also contribute. This case of psychosomatic illness can also manifest itself in a baby who may develop eczema after stopping breastfeeding.

Atopic eczema can arise for a variety of reasons, including long-term psychological difficulties. Often eczema occurs in children.

Other skin psychosomatic complaints include:

• acne
• atopic eczema
• eczema around the eyes
• psoriasis
• cold sores

Breathing difficulties

Breathing difficulties of psychosomatic origin can be a sign that something in our lives is stifling us. It could be an unhealthy relationship, a job we don't like, or something we've been dreading for a long time.

Psychosomatic breathing problems include:

• asthma and asthma attacks
• cough
• bronchitis
• chest pressure

Digestive disorders

A number of digestive problems can also be attributed to mental discomfort. These problems can be caused by prioritising the needs of others over one's own, trying to meet the demands of others, fear of presenting or speaking in front of a crowd, and general nervousness.

Psychosomatic digestive problems may include:

• heartburn
• flatulence
• constipation or diarrhoea
• gastric neurosis
• stomach or gallbladder pain
• Crohn's disease

Blood Pressure

Stress and anxiety can cause both high and low blood pressure. Rapid breathing or hyperventilation often connects emotional distress to cardiovascular symptoms. Monitoring blood pressure is important, but understanding the psychological context is equally essential.

Chest pain

The physical symptoms of psychological problems vary for everyone and chest pressure can be one of them.

Everyone feels chest pain or pressure to a different degree and frequency. In general, we can summarize them as follows:

• sharp, shooting pain
• persistent chest pain
• unusual muscle twitching or cramping in the chest
• burning, numbness or dull pain
• stabbing pressure
• tension or pressure in the chest

Trouble with heartburn

According to research, up to 10-20% of the population in the Western world suffers from a disease called gastroesophageal reflux disease. Not every reflux has to be considered a disease, but when it occurs for a long time, this disease is an unpleasant companion that additionally damages the lining of the esophagus.

Psychological problems (e.g. stress or anxiety) can aggravate or trigger heartburn. This is associated with various reasons:

• anxiety can reduce the pressure in the lower oesophageal sphincter, which keeps the stomach closed and prevents acid from escaping into the oesophagus
• stress reactions and anxiety can cause prolonged muscle tension - this can affect the muscles around the stomach, increasing pressure on the organ and pushing acid up
• high levels of anxiety can increase stomach acid production

A cold or viral illness

The fact that the body is tired and needs rest can be signalled to us by a sudden cold or viral illness. It's a cry for help to slow down for a while and think about ourselves and our health too.

Fatigue can signal us psychosomatically:

• a cold
• cough
• sore throat

How Psychotherapy Helps Treat Psychosomatic Illness

Psychotherapy is a key element of psychosomatic treatment. It helps uncover emotional conflicts and life patterns behind physical symptoms. By connecting your life story with your physical experience, therapy enables deep healing.

A psychosomatic specialist may use techniques such as:

• Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)
• Body-oriented or mindfulness-based therapy
• Autogenic training or focusing

These methods help clients explore the meaning of psychosomatic illness, identify its emotional roots, and gradually reduce both mental and physical symptoms.