Psychosomatic illnesses

Psychosomatic illnesses were defined as genuine physical ailments thought to be caused, in a large measure, by mental states and attitudes such as persistent anxiety, depression and stress.

That is why these illness are called psychosomatic, term derived from Greek. The classic psychosomatic illnesses were high blood pressure, peptic ulcers, asthma, skin disorders such as eczema and hives, and migraine and tension headaches.

The premise of psychosomatic illness is that the mind and emotions play important roles in the origin or progression of disease or both. In the broadest sense of the term, all human illness is psychosomatic, since the functions of mind and body are closely interwoven.

There is no absolute line between those illnesses which are purely physical and those that are purely psychosomatic, but a useful definition of a psychosomatic illness is one in which there are physical complaints but no identifiable physical cause for the symptoms after physical examination and investigation.

Physician used drugs that suppress symptoms, but rarely do they address the underlying mental states that cause the illness.
Psychosomatic illnesses