Sigmund Freud’s explanatory model assumes that unconscious conflicts escape consciousness through repression and then present themselves physically. As a result, the physical symptom becomes a symbol of the psychological conflict. This conversion (psychic becomes physical) often affects the sense organs (blindness, ringing in the ears, dizziness) or the motor system (paralysis, muscle spasms). Max Schur, also a psychoanalyst and Freud’s physician, was of the opinion that in the course of his life man learns not to react physically to a strain, but his thinking and imagination, i.e. his ego functions, are trained. Under too much stress, he would then fall back into the early childhood behavior pattern and react physically, that is, with a psychosomatic illness.
Different theories
While Franz Alexander saw a specific connection between the psychological conflict and the body’s reaction, George L. Engel and Arthur H. Schmale modified this explanatory approach and saw the time of onset and localization of the illness in each individual as dependent on the psychological condition, but not the body reaction per se. Pierre Marty found that patients with psychosomatic illnesses often had a lack of imagination and a certain mechanistic way of thinking, so that he assumed a connection between character traits and the tendency to psychosomatic illnesses.
For Martin Seligman, misdirected learning processes are the cause of psychosomatic illness, and Hans Selye also sees illness as the end result of a stress reaction to which the individual has no other way of defending himself.
The biopsychosocial explanatory models for the development of a psychosomatic illness, e.g. by Thore von Uexküll, which are used today, are the most far-reaching. They include not only biological-physical, emotional, and intellectual components of the individual, but also his or her social situation and life history, and see in the interaction a rationale for the development of disease.
Is there a psychosomatic treatment?
Headache, chest pain, abdominal pain and back pain, along with fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath and sleep disturbances, are the most common complaints for which a patient goes to the doctor – and the most common complaints for which no cause is found. So especially when treating these complaints, it is particularly important to consider psychological and physical aspects in equal measure. But even otherwise, you should always ask yourself whether, apart from medical treatment, you might not be able to do something more for yourself to influence the healing process:
- Healthy eating supports becoming healthy – but also eat foods that you feel like eating and that you know are “soul food” for you.
- Exercise in the fresh air activates your immune system – and the sun drives away bad thoughts.
- Relaxation exercises reduce stress and help you become more balanced.
- Ask yourself if certain life circumstances are contributing to your symptoms. If you are unsure, take professional help and talk to a psychologist or psychotherapist about your problems.
- Holistic approaches to medicine can be found in naturopathy, homeopathy, traditional Chinese medicine and other Eastern wisdom teachings, among others. Ask your doctor if he can help you with holistic treatment.