Have you ever been told, “it’s all in your mind”, when you’ve had a symptom or health concern? Many people have, even by their own doctors. How did it make you feel? Did you feel invalidated? Did you take their word for it and simply dismiss it (trying to ignore it) or did you keep looking for the cause of your problem? What does it even mean?
I’ve always had a keen interest in psychology, but when it came time to finalize my career plans, I steered more toward physical healthcare (chiropractic). In the last several years though, it seems like I’m coming more full circle – not abandoning chiropractic, but looking more at how the mind (especially the subconscious) affects the body. In some of my presentations that I do, I talk about the difference between hypochondria and psychosomatic disorders. I’ve heard some people use those terms almost interchangeably, but they’re actually very different.
A hypochondriac is one who thinks he’s sick, but he isn’t really. Generally we use that term to describe someone who is obsessed with their health and is always acting under the belief that they have some horrible malady. I believe that many of us are a bit hypochondriac at times. We read about the symptoms of some deadly disease and start to think that we’re about to kick the bucket any moment. Or we might be around people who are describing various symptoms and we start feeling them too.
Psychosomatic illness, on the other hand, is very real illness. This is where the problem starts in the mind, but then manifests in the body. “Psycho” refers to the mind. “Soma” refers to the body. So “psychosomatic” literally means mind to body. I believe that this is far more common than most people think. In fact, I would say that most, if not all, disease processes have some degree of psychosomatic component. Whether it’s stress or worry or just negativity, our bodies can become weakened and more vulnerable as a result of our thoughts. I’ve noticed that people who tend to focus on illness are more likely to attract illness, whereas people who focus on health stay much healthier.
Our mood, our current emotions, have a definite impact on the state of our health. But what about emotions that are buried in our subconscious that we may not be aware of? As an Emotion Code practitioner, I work a great deal with “trapped” emotions. These buried emotions carry negative energy that can manifest themselves in all sorts of ways in the body, from achiness to actual disease processes. We have been able to help many people with a variety of health problems by clearing trapped emotions (usually done in combination with chiropractic and other energy balancing).
So the next time someone says to you, “it’s all in your head”, you can say, “that may be, or at least where part of it began, but it doesn’t make the problem any less real.” If there are psychological problems that need to be addressed, especially if you only imagine a problem, see a qualified psychologist or psychiatrist. However, if you really do have an ache or a pain or even the beginnings of a disease process, consider the role of emotions in maintaining your health.
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