Psychosomatic, or somatopsychic?
A psychosomatic illness is defined as a disorder having physical symptoms but having mental or emotional origins. In common usage, the word has come to mean "imaginary", synonymous with hypochondria (though hypochondria is in itself a serious mental illness.) This is misleading, since many psychosomatic symptoms can be substantiated through medical testing. Changes in a patient's mental state can affect heart rate, blood pressure, and even blood chemistry.
In reflecting on my recent bout with the flu and the concurrent mental and emotional symptoms, I decided to look into the connection between physical and mental illness. On my own, I surmised that the opposite of psychosomatic must be somatopsychic, and that someone must have done some research on it. I found some interesting links:
Anxiety May Be Linked To Immune System
Differential Diagnosis of Somatopsychic Disorders
Psychiatric Presentations of Medical Illness
Could something as common as influenza trigger psychotic symptoms? How much of my mental illness is caused by physical illness? It seems obvious to me that Western medicine is finally starting to understand that the mind and the body should not be treated as separate entities, but what does it mean for me? If I can cure one, might I be able to cure the other?
Now fully recovered from the flu, my anxiety has receded and my moods are back to baseline. I'm convinced that, in this case, my physical illness was the direct cause of my anxiety. I have several chronic physical illnesses. I have to wonder, if I can alleviate my physical illness, might I be able to alleviate my mental anguish as well?
I am making this my personal little research project.
In reflecting on my recent bout with the flu and the concurrent mental and emotional symptoms, I decided to look into the connection between physical and mental illness. On my own, I surmised that the opposite of psychosomatic must be somatopsychic, and that someone must have done some research on it. I found some interesting links:
Anxiety May Be Linked To Immune System
Differential Diagnosis of Somatopsychic Disorders
Psychiatric Presentations of Medical Illness
Could something as common as influenza trigger psychotic symptoms? How much of my mental illness is caused by physical illness? It seems obvious to me that Western medicine is finally starting to understand that the mind and the body should not be treated as separate entities, but what does it mean for me? If I can cure one, might I be able to cure the other?
Now fully recovered from the flu, my anxiety has receded and my moods are back to baseline. I'm convinced that, in this case, my physical illness was the direct cause of my anxiety. I have several chronic physical illnesses. I have to wonder, if I can alleviate my physical illness, might I be able to alleviate my mental anguish as well?
I am making this my personal little research project.