Mind - Body Links
“It is much more important to know what sort of patient has a disease than what sort of disease a patient has.”
These words --published by a physician nearly 200 years ago - describe the mind-body connection that physicians deal with daily.
All good healers know that the mind and the body are indivisible - what affects one will influence the other. Personality and physiology, the mind and the body, are one. Physicians have to consider the individual as a whole.
When disease presents itself the whole person - body and mind - is disturbed. And when the mind is troubled, it can create havoc with the body. Or to paraphrase the Greek philosopher Democritus (460-370 B.C.) “ if the body were to sue the mind for cruel and unusual punishment, the mind would have to pay ”.
This connection between the mind and the body is so well known to physicians that there is a whole field of medicine devoted entirely to it - the study of “psychosomatic” disorders. The current official definition of a psychosomatic disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV ) is “ psychological factors affecting a medical condition”.
This does not necessarily mean that the condition is purely in your mind, although that particular disorder is also included. Psychosomatic diseases cover the gamut of medical conditions. They include acne, allergies, angina, arrythmias, asthma, blood pressure … all the way up to warts. In all of these conditions your mental state can affect how your body is doing.
Aretaeus the Cappodician, personal physician to Alexander the Great, listed “vehement affectations of the soul, such as astonishment, fear, or dejection of spirits” as one of the six causes of paralysis. From the 16th to the 19th century being a hypochondriac was quite fashionable, particularly among the English aristocracy. Upper class Brits became such hypochondriacs that it was often referred to as the “ English malady”, along with other nicknames such as “the hyp”, the “fantods and megrims”, and the “vapours”. Romantic swoons were particularly popular among young maidens.
A medical textbook published in 1763 described such important medical conditions as “ the Harmful Effects of Suppressed Anger on the Body”, and the “Harmful Corporeal Effects of Unrequited Love”. ( I have had this one several times.) Fortunately there were also treatments described in this text. They begin with “ the Beneficial Corporeal Effects of Hope in Connection with Various Ailments”. For more stubborn cases there was always “ Terror as a Therapeutic Agent”. More modern psychosomatic complaints range from hypochondriacs to heart attacks.
Pure hypochondriacs have been described as having a “sickness of the emotions”. The patient’s subconscious mind creates symptoms. The most extreme example of hypochondriasis is called Munchausen’s Syndrome, after a famous liar. ( A Baron, not a politician.) This condition leads people to become addicted to having medical treatments, including multiple surgeries. Heart attacks are not generally thought of as psychosomatic illnesses, but the emotions and personality of a patient can play an enormous role in cardiac disease.
The role of Type A personalities is familiar to most of us by now - the aggressive-compulsive personality with a tendancy to work long hours, to try and seize authority, and become extremely hostile when frustrated. These personality traits lead to hormonal changes, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, and can trigger a bout of angina or even a heart attack. One very famous cardiac researcher made this connection several decades ago. He realized that his own angina was made significantly worse by emotional factors. His most famous quote was something like “ my life lies in the hands of the next idiot who chooses to annoy me !”
Peptic ulcers are another condition with an obvious connection to the state of mind of the patient, as are tension headaches, low back pain, PMS, and chronic pain. Some connections are a bit more subtle, like asthma. Although stress can make asthma worse, many psychiatrists feel there is something deeper than this. They feel that many asthmatics tend to have a strong unconscious wish for protection and for envelopment by the mother or surrogate mother. This mother figure tends to be oversolicitous, perfectionistic, dominating, and helpful. (Of course, one must keep in mind that what psychiatrists know about asthma is about what the average astrologer knows about diesel engines.)
There is no doubt that emotional and attitude play a strong role in the development of chronic disease People with hostility, a feeling of inadequacy, or a grudge against the world always seem to do worse with any particular illness. Optimists tend to be much healthier and happier in the long run. So the main message to staying away from psychosomatic illness is to aggressively pursue a positive cheerful attitude. Or as I tell my gloomy patients, “ there is no use being pessimistic - it probably won’t work anyway !”
Dr. Patrick Nesbitt
These words --published by a physician nearly 200 years ago - describe the mind-body connection that physicians deal with daily.
All good healers know that the mind and the body are indivisible - what affects one will influence the other. Personality and physiology, the mind and the body, are one. Physicians have to consider the individual as a whole.
When disease presents itself the whole person - body and mind - is disturbed. And when the mind is troubled, it can create havoc with the body. Or to paraphrase the Greek philosopher Democritus (460-370 B.C.) “ if the body were to sue the mind for cruel and unusual punishment, the mind would have to pay ”.
This connection between the mind and the body is so well known to physicians that there is a whole field of medicine devoted entirely to it - the study of “psychosomatic” disorders. The current official definition of a psychosomatic disorder according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV ) is “ psychological factors affecting a medical condition”.
This does not necessarily mean that the condition is purely in your mind, although that particular disorder is also included. Psychosomatic diseases cover the gamut of medical conditions. They include acne, allergies, angina, arrythmias, asthma, blood pressure … all the way up to warts. In all of these conditions your mental state can affect how your body is doing.
Aretaeus the Cappodician, personal physician to Alexander the Great, listed “vehement affectations of the soul, such as astonishment, fear, or dejection of spirits” as one of the six causes of paralysis. From the 16th to the 19th century being a hypochondriac was quite fashionable, particularly among the English aristocracy. Upper class Brits became such hypochondriacs that it was often referred to as the “ English malady”, along with other nicknames such as “the hyp”, the “fantods and megrims”, and the “vapours”. Romantic swoons were particularly popular among young maidens.
A medical textbook published in 1763 described such important medical conditions as “ the Harmful Effects of Suppressed Anger on the Body”, and the “Harmful Corporeal Effects of Unrequited Love”. ( I have had this one several times.) Fortunately there were also treatments described in this text. They begin with “ the Beneficial Corporeal Effects of Hope in Connection with Various Ailments”. For more stubborn cases there was always “ Terror as a Therapeutic Agent”. More modern psychosomatic complaints range from hypochondriacs to heart attacks.
Pure hypochondriacs have been described as having a “sickness of the emotions”. The patient’s subconscious mind creates symptoms. The most extreme example of hypochondriasis is called Munchausen’s Syndrome, after a famous liar. ( A Baron, not a politician.) This condition leads people to become addicted to having medical treatments, including multiple surgeries. Heart attacks are not generally thought of as psychosomatic illnesses, but the emotions and personality of a patient can play an enormous role in cardiac disease.
The role of Type A personalities is familiar to most of us by now - the aggressive-compulsive personality with a tendancy to work long hours, to try and seize authority, and become extremely hostile when frustrated. These personality traits lead to hormonal changes, rapid heart rate, high blood pressure, and can trigger a bout of angina or even a heart attack. One very famous cardiac researcher made this connection several decades ago. He realized that his own angina was made significantly worse by emotional factors. His most famous quote was something like “ my life lies in the hands of the next idiot who chooses to annoy me !”
Peptic ulcers are another condition with an obvious connection to the state of mind of the patient, as are tension headaches, low back pain, PMS, and chronic pain. Some connections are a bit more subtle, like asthma. Although stress can make asthma worse, many psychiatrists feel there is something deeper than this. They feel that many asthmatics tend to have a strong unconscious wish for protection and for envelopment by the mother or surrogate mother. This mother figure tends to be oversolicitous, perfectionistic, dominating, and helpful. (Of course, one must keep in mind that what psychiatrists know about asthma is about what the average astrologer knows about diesel engines.)
There is no doubt that emotional and attitude play a strong role in the development of chronic disease People with hostility, a feeling of inadequacy, or a grudge against the world always seem to do worse with any particular illness. Optimists tend to be much healthier and happier in the long run. So the main message to staying away from psychosomatic illness is to aggressively pursue a positive cheerful attitude. Or as I tell my gloomy patients, “ there is no use being pessimistic - it probably won’t work anyway !”
Dr. Patrick Nesbitt