Psychosomatic Illnesses

To clarify Psychosomatic means mind (psyche) and body (soma). A psychosomatic disorder is a disease which involves both mind and body. In other words, the so-called psychosomatic illnesses are all the disorders, syndromes or symptoms having a psychological basis. The causative factor may be the stress, overwork, anxiety, depression, insomnia and extreme fatigue ...

Causes

A mental disorder such as stress, anxiety or depression changes the nervous system plan at the molecular and cellular level. These changes are transmitted to the body through interaction with the endocrine, immune or metabolic.
In the case of stress, the overproduction of adrenaline in the brain causes an increase in blood cortisol . This very powerful hormone  produces direct symptoms:


- Pallor of hair,
- Opening of the pores and sweats,
- Dilation of blood vessels and pulmonary bronchioles,
- Increase in heart rate,
- Decrease in secretion of digestive enzymes in the stomach and the slowdown of the intestinal transit (low muscle contractions) .

These physical events accompany and sometimes cause psychological reactions: irritability, aggressiveness, tension, fear, etc. repeated, they induce imbalances in the body, with inflammatory responses.

The Disorders more frequent

A psychic imbalance will be translated into tangible symptoms. The most frequent complaints are:
- Digestive and intestinal disorders (bloating, constipation, ulcer ... ) ;
- Skin disorders (warts, severe rosacea, herpes nasolabial, mouth ulcer, psoriasis, eczema ... ) ;
- Joint and muscles disorders (fatigue, pain, blockages ... ) ;
- vascular disorders (migraine, arterial hypertension, high blood pressure, myocardial infarction, stroke ... ) ;
- metabolic disorders (development delay ... ) ;
- sexual disorders (loss of libido).

The initial mental disorder is not usually the direct cause of these pathologies, but it form a risk factor. In some cases (pain or high inflammation ), the annoyance psychic seems to be the direct cause of the disorder.
In general, it is well known that the mind can cause physical symptoms. For example, when we are afraid or anxious we may develop:

• A fast heart rate
• A thumping heart (palpitations)
• Feeling sick (nauseated)
• Shaking (tremor)
• Sweating
• Dry mouth
• Chest pain
• Headaches
• A knot in the stomach
• Fast breathing

What are the treatments for psychosomatic disorders?

Each disease has its own therapy and treatment. For physical diseases, physical treatments such as medication or operations are usually the most important. However, physicians will usually try to treat a person as a whole and take into account mental, social, behavioral and psychological factors which may be contributing and lead to a disease. Therefore, treatments to reduce stress, anxiety and depression etc, may help if they are thought to be contributing to your physical disease.
References:
 http://sante-medecine.commentcamarche.net/ : Translated
http://www.patient.co.uk/health/psychosomatic-disorders