Psychosomatics: The Connection Between Mind and Body

Sometimes our illnesses carry symbolic messages for us—we just need to learn the language our bodies use to communicate through symptoms. And it’s not as difficult as it may seem.

Are you struggling to cure a stomach ulcer? Maybe you’re too hard on yourself, constantly “eating yourself up” with worry. Suffering from neck pain? Perhaps it’s time to “shake off” those who are metaphorically “sitting on your neck.” Is your back aching? Maybe you’ve taken on too heavy a burden. Experiencing asthma attacks? Consider what or who is preventing you from “breathing freely” or “cutting off your oxygen.”

Socrates once said, “You cannot treat the eye without the head, the head without the body, or the body without the soul.” Hippocrates, the father of medicine, also believed the body is a unified structure and emphasized the importance of finding and eliminating the root cause of illness, not just its symptoms. Often, the causes of our physical ailments are rooted in psychological distress. As the saying goes, “All diseases are from nerves.” Yet, we often don’t realize this and continue to visit doctors in vain. If a problem exists in our mind, the illness may subside temporarily but will soon return. The only solution is not just to treat the symptoms, but to search for the root of the problem. This is the focus of psychosomatics (from the Greek psyche—soul, soma—body), the science that studies the influence of psychological factors on physical diseases.

“Psychosomatics is not just the connection between the body and the mind; it’s a holistic approach to the patient, who is no longer just a carrier of an organ or a symptom, but a full-fledged individual with internal problems and, as a result, physical ailments.”
— Dr. Sergey Novikov, Psychotherapist

Back in the 1930s, Franz Alexander, one of the founders of psychosomatics, identified a group of seven classic psychosomatic diseases, known as the “holy seven”: essential (primary) hypertension, stomach ulcers, rheumatoid arthritis, hyperthyroidism, bronchial asthma, colitis, and neurodermatitis. Today, the list of psychosomatic disorders has expanded significantly.

“According to the World Health Organization, 38 to 42% of all people who visit general practitioners are actually psychosomatic patients. In my opinion, this number is even higher.”

Stress, prolonged nervous tension, emotional trauma, suppressed resentment, fears, conflicts—even if we try to ignore, forget, or suppress them, the body remembers everything and reminds us. Sigmund Freud wrote, “If we drive a problem out the door, it comes back in through the window as a symptom.” Sometimes, these symptoms are so persistent and expressive that it seems impossible not to notice them—yet we often do.

Common Psychosomatic Illnesses and Their Psychological Roots

Bronchial Asthma

Asthma can be triggered by allergens, infections, and emotional factors. Psychologically, it’s often linked to a person’s inability to “breathe freely.” Asthma may strike when life feels suffocating, when we can’t find relief, or when we live in a “heavy, oppressive atmosphere” without a “breath of fresh air.”

Triggers can include a toxic work environment where someone is “cutting off your oxygen,” or a house full of relatives where you “can’t breathe.” Breathing problems also occur in people whose loved ones “smother” them with care, especially children with overbearing parents.

Dr. Valery Sinelnikov, author of “Love Your Disease,” believes most asthmatics find it hard to cry: “Asthmatics usually don’t cry. They hold back tears and sobs. Asthma is a suppressed sob… an attempt to express what cannot be expressed otherwise.”

Dr. Nossrat Peseschkian, a professor and head of the Wiesbaden Academy of Psychotherapy in Germany, notes that many asthmatics come from families with high expectations and little tolerance for negative emotions. Children in such families suppress their feelings, and their bodies “speak” through asthma symptoms, “crying” for help.

Stomach Ulcers

While smoking, alcohol, poor diet, genetics, high stomach acid, and the Helicobacter pylori bacteria are known risk factors, not everyone exposed to these develops ulcers. Most scientists agree that chronic stress and certain personality traits play a significant role.

Psychologists believe ulcers often develop in anxious, sensitive, insecure people who set high standards for themselves and are hyper-responsible. They are never satisfied, prone to self-criticism and “eating themselves up.” The saying goes, “It’s not what you eat, but what’s eating you.” Ulcers also affect those “stuck” in situations they can’t accept, who say, “I need time to digest this,” while their stomach “digests itself.”

We might say, “I’m sick to my stomach of this job,” yet don’t quit. Or we can’t stop making sarcastic remarks. Eventually, our body mirrors what’s happening in our soul.

Back Pain

Back pain can result from injuries, overexertion, poor posture, or hypothermia. But it’s also linked to strong emotional reactions and chronic tension. When we’re “carrying a heavy load” or “bearing a cross,” our back, which is meant to carry weight, can only take so much. Even the strongest can be “ridden into the ground,” the most “unbending” can “break under the burden.”

Diabetes

From a psychosomatic perspective, diabetes doesn’t come from a “sweet life”—quite the opposite. Psychologists believe it’s triggered by family conflicts, chronic stress, and resentment. The main psychological cause is an unmet need for love and affection. Craving “sweetness” in life, people may turn to food, especially sweets, as their main source of pleasure, leading to overeating, obesity, high blood sugar, and diabetes. Ironically, sweets—the last source of pleasure—then become forbidden.

Valery Sinelnikov says the diabetic’s body is telling them: “You can only get sweetness from the outside if you make your life sweet. Learn to enjoy life. Choose what brings you pleasure. Make everything in this world bring you joy and delight.”

Dizziness

Dizziness can be a symptom of motion sickness or a sign of various illnesses. If medical tests show you’re healthy, consider a psychosomatic cause. Maybe you’ve been “spinning like a hamster on a wheel,” or life is so hectic your “head is spinning.” Or perhaps you’ve risen so quickly in your career that you’re at a “dizzying height.” If you’re used to a calm, measured life, this whirlwind can be stressful. Focus on what’s truly important, and your health may improve. Fun fact: Julius Caesar, known for multitasking, suffered from chronic dizziness.

Hair Loss

Hair loss can be caused by genetics, hormones, and, of course, stress. We often lose hair after emotional shocks—loss of a loved one, a breakup, financial ruin. If we blame ourselves and regret the past, we may literally “tear our hair out.” Rapid hair loss can signal it’s time to let go of the past and make room for something new—including new hair.

Trigeminal Neuralgia

This condition causes some of the most excruciating pain known to humanity. The trigeminal nerve controls facial sensation. While we can hide flaws in our body, our face is always visible and reflects our emotions. Sometimes, we don’t want to show our “true face” and try to hide it. In some cultures, “losing face” is a serious matter.

Trying to make a good impression, we “put on a mask,” fake a smile, or pretend to be interested. This mismatch between our real face and the mask keeps our facial muscles tense. Eventually, this constant restraint can backfire: the trigeminal nerve becomes inflamed, and our “public face” is replaced by a grimace of pain. By suppressing aggression and being overly polite, we end up “slapping ourselves in the face.”

Sore Throat

Even a simple sore throat can have psychological roots. Who hasn’t gotten sick before a dreaded math test or taken a sick day because work was “choking” them? Chronic, unexplained throat problems often affect those who want to express their feelings but can’t—who “step on their own throat” or “swallow” their resentment. Such people may seem cold, but beneath the surface, emotions rage—they just get “stuck in the throat.”

When to Seek Help

Of course, not every illness is a literal embodiment of a phrase, and not every cold is a sign of fate. For any health issue, you should first see a qualified doctor and get a thorough checkup. But if your illness is hard to treat, worsens during stress or conflict, consider whether your health problems might be the result of unexpressed emotions, suppressed resentment, or fears. Are your unshed tears making your body “cry”? A psychotherapist can help you figure this out.

Sergey Novikov: “Sometimes doctors refer patients to psychotherapy, or patients themselves realize the need to see a psychotherapist. But then another problem arises—the patient fears being labeled crazy. This fear is completely unfounded: a psychotherapist is a doctor who can work with perfectly healthy people. Those who overcome their fear and seek help start working on themselves, learning to see, analyze, and solve their problems, and become the ‘happy patients’ who recover from ‘incurable, chronic diseases.’ The connection between body and mind is undeniable, and only harmony between these two aspects of our health can make a person truly healthy.”