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A psychosomatic illness (psyche = mind, soma = body) is the one that has no known biological or physical cause and the symptoms are caused or aggravated by psychological factors. Despite their uncanny nature, psychosomatic illnesses are not uncommon. Examples of psychosomatic illnesses include peptic ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, stomach disorders, migraines and back pain. Even blindness and paralysis have been reported to be psychosomatic in some cases!
In short, it is possible to think yourself into an illness. Since our subconscious mind controls our bodily functions, it makes sense to claim that the underlying causes of psychosomatic illnesses are subconscious psychological mechanisms that operate outside the level of awareness. Here are the three most common causes of psychosomatic illnesses.
1) Negative emotions
Negative emotions are just your mind’s way of warning you that something in your life isn't going well, that something needs to be dealt with and fixed. If you ignore these emotions, your mind intensifies them so that you’re forced to acknowledge them and take the necessary actions. The mind is pushed to the limit and there is no other way for it to make you acknowledge that something's wrong other than making you fall ill.
Prolonged anger, resentment, jealousy, hatred, shame, guilt and depression when unexpressed or not dealt with can lead to a psychosomatic illness.
2) Subconscious problem-solving
One of the most important functions of the subconscious mind is to maintain our well-being. If it perceives anything as a threat to our well-being, it comes up with neat strategies to deal with these issues outside of our awareness and without our consent.
For example, if a person’s work conditions were extremely stressful and it didn't seem like he was going to get any respite any sooner, then his subconscious may kick in and make him fall ill. Children may get sick to avoid going to school. It may be that they’re being bullied in school or something and that’s why their subconscious made them fall ill so that they’re guarded from the psychological torture of bullying.
3) Suggestion
This one’s even more bizarre. If you receive a suggestion (information) from an authority figure whom you trust, you tend to accept it on a subconscious level. If, for example, a doctor you totally trust diagnoses you with cancer and tells you that you have six months to live, there’s every chance that you’ll die after six months, even if it was a misdiagnosis!
Another way by which the subconscious mind gets programmed is repetition. This means that if you repeatedly say, “My boss gives me a headache” or “He’s such a pain in the neck” then the mere, repeated use of these words may actually give you a headache or a neck pain. As one wise man wrote in a book that never got written, “Choose your words carefully!”
Category(s):Health / Illness / Medical Issues
Source material from Psych Mechanics
