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;void(0)) Psychosomatics reactions may be interpreted as the inappropriate response of organ reactions adaptive to, or protective against, some stress in human life experience. It is the physiological reaction of an emotional state. HYPERTENSION In an emotional state of rage, it is normal for the blood pressure to be raised. This rise in blood pressure will subside if the angry person releases this emotional tension by physical or verbal attack on the object of anger. If, however, a persistent, inhibited aggression continues, the patient’s emotional tension does not subside, the blood pressure does not go down. Chronic emotional tension has activated bodily changes resulting in “essential” hypertension. The personality of many hypertensive patients is one of outward serenity and affability, but it covers conflicting attitudes of readiness for aggressive hostility with needs to conform to social, career, or familial norms. Many hypertensives have strong perfectionistic and compulsive tendencies. Some suffer with gastrointestinal symptoms. Psychotherapy alone will not resolve the problem. As stated earlier, one must abide by their physician’s treatment regimen. However, psychotherapy will be a helpful adjunct as far as helping the client live a more contented life. MIGRAINE HEADACHES Migraine headaches are episodic in nature. They consist of widespread neurovascular dysfunction and can be accompanied by disturbance of mood in individuals of a driving perfectionistic disposition. With some patients nausea and vomiting are associated or may represent minor variants of the attack. The migraine sufferer tends to come from ambitious, highly conventional families that attach great significance to attainment and in which children are required to conform to strict behavior patterns that limit the direct expression of aggression by either physical or verbal activity. Failure to conform threatens the family attachment. This often brings on hostile feelings toward parents or loved ones. The arousal of rage or hostile wishes leads to conflict and anxiety which acts as a precipitant to the headaches. There is usually a family history of migraine in the family. It is mostly diagnosed in women. PEPTIC ULCER We have already seen that anxiety and aggressive strivings increase hormone secretion. Well, it also impacts the electrical activity of the stomach. Sadness, depression and discouragement equally depress these functions. The ulcer patient and her parents probably are genetically predisposed as a persistent gastric hypersecretor. However, studies indicate that ulcer syndrome is now among the most frequently encountered of psychosomatic conditions. Peptic ulcer patients were found to have a persisting strong infantile wish to be loved and cared for, conflicting with the adult drive for independence. This conflict, heightened by adverse external circumstances, brings on shameful anxiety. The drive to be cared for is equated with the infantile wish to be fed and associated with gastric hyperactivity. This can be treated through a combination of medical treatment; diet; and psychotherapeutic measures. The counseling could include some manipulation of the environment (vacation; or enlisting the support of key figures in the person’s life). ASTHMA Despite the fact that asthma occurs in individuals with a constitutional predisposition, there is on record many cases in which the attacks were initiated by events other than the antigen. Instances are recorded in which patients have their attack at a regular hour each day; when they hear a particular song or hearing comments about a particular person. Of course there is also the famous “rose asthma” case where an asthmatic’s attacks were brought on, not only by coming in contact with a rose but also from contact with a papier-mache rose. The asthmatic personality often is one of irritability and quickness to respond, coupled with lack of confidence, submissiveness, and anxiety. Research has long indicated a strong maternal dependency that arouses conflict when aggressive or sexual drives threaten the relationship. The attack has been thought to represent symbolically both a protest against separation from the mother and also the wish to reestablish this relationship through crying; thus the asthmatic wheeze is considered equivalent to a repressed cry. Other research have stressed the relationship of the asthmatic attack to arousal of repressed conflicts relating to bodily odors, particularly concerned with excretions and secretions – particularly involved in early childhood rearing relative to cleanliness. DIABETES MELLITUS Probably the most striking example of influence of disturbance on somatic functioning is that observed in certain individuals suffering from diabetes mellitus. Investigations have clearly elucidated the disturbances in glucose metabolism resulting from changes in the emotional state of the individual. The onset of diabetes is often related to periods of severe emotional distress after such experiences as disruption of the home, or frustration associated with long periods of exhausting work. On the physiological side, it has been shown that urinary and blood glucose levels are elevated following periods of emotional stress and the glucose tolerance curves may be modified at such times. In general, the glucose tolerance test has found to indicate a higher degree of diabetes when the individual is feeling more hostile or depressed, and it approaches the healthy curve when the patient feels accepted and cared for. Adult diabetics who repeatedly stop taking their medication or give up their diet are often doing so as a means of expressing depressive or even suicidal drives. Obese diabetics who are addicted to sweets or to over-eating are likely to over-eat when anxious in spite of threats of physicians concerning their future health if they fail to adhere to the diabetic regimen. Psychotherapy becomes of vital importance in these circumstances. Psychosomatics is a very detailed and complex area of study. This has been a brief overview of just a few ailments that may have psychological components. I hope that this discussion will lead you to recognize that psychology should be integrated with medicine in all its branches and that artificial distinctions between body and mind should be obliterated. All of the technological advances in the world are not going to help us unless we see that there are mental, emotional and social factors that must be taken into account in our search for that harmonic balance between body and mind.  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