9 diseases that may be caused by your mind
Cuts, bumps and tissue breaks are not the only causes of symptoms and diseases that are known. Psychosomatic or somatomorphic disorders, for example, are forms of expression of alterations that are psychological in nature, either conscious or unconscious.
That is why, in some cases, they appear disorders and disease pictures caused by the mind . This means that there are certain symptoms and signs of discomfort that do not appear because of related elements of the environment that enter our body and harm us (blows, cuts, infections, etc.) or diseases of purely genetic origin.
Symptoms and disorders caused by the mind
For centuries it has been hypothetical about the existence of symptoms and diseases caused by the mind, although the explanations that have been given have deferred. For example, for Jean-Martin Charcot, Sigmund Freud's mentor, in these cases there was an organic alteration producing these changes, while for Freud, in some cases, it was the emotions themselves caused by the repression of ideas and beliefs that produced the disease (this explains, for example, cases of hysteria or conversion disorder).
In any case, when we talk about diseases produced by the mind we do not mean that our body works well but the mind does not, because that would be falling into dualism, a non-scientific philosophy.
The mind is a product of the activity of the organism , is not something separate from this, and therefore alterations with a psychological origin are a specific type of disorder that, like all others, has an organic and not "spiritual" cause. Specifically, what originates them is in the brain, although it is not known exactly which parts of the brain are involved.
Physical alterations of psychological origin
But ... what are these diseases produced by psychological alterations? These are some of them.
1. Migraine
Migraine, which is a very intense and recurrent type of headache, may be caused by stress and the changes it causes in the distribution of blood through the brain.
However, although the migraine may have a psychological origin, that does not mean that this disease can be cured by thinking in a certain way or exposing yourself more to a certain kind of emotion. Psychologically, you can only intervene to better adapt to your symptoms.
2. Gastrointestinal disorders
The intestines make up one of the parts of the body most sensitive to hormonal changes. That is why abrupt alterations in the amount in which some of these substances are secreted by order of the brain can cause the bowel to start functioning in strange ways that generate discomfort.
3. Shy bladder syndrome
Some people are unable to urinate if they feel observed. This fact may lead them to think that they have some kind of problem in their bladder or renal system, but in reality the cause of this disorder is purely psychological . In particular, it is due to a type of social phobia.
- To know more about this disorder, you can visit this article: "Paruresis: the shy bladder syndrome".
4. Pain disorder
In cases of pain disorder, the person complains of intense pain that localizes in a specific area of their body without it having injuries nor present problems in its way of functioning.
It is believed that this disorder is psychological and has to do with the suggestion (the propensity to believe firmly in an idea to make it something real) and anxiety problems associated with it.
5. Infarction
Heart attacks are vascular diseases closely related to unhealthy habits related to exercise and diet in general. But nevertheless, stress levels also have a very important role in the chances of suffering one . Ultimately, if anxiety begins to be part of our lives constantly, the circulatory system suffers because it tries to maintain many parts of the body in a maximum state of activation.
This state of activation, when it is very intense or becomes chronic, forces the walls of the blood vessels and the heart, making small breaks appear or stretching and narrowing. In turn, this makes the chances of suffering a vascular problem increase, and the consequences that this can have are very serious: even if death does not occur, there may be sequelae that give steps to other diseases.
6. Alopecia due to stress
In many cases, alopecia is a consequence of genetic inheritance, but in others it may be due to specific periods in which stress is very high. In these cases, part of the hair is falling homogeneously and quickly for a few days.Once past the period in which that peak of anxiety has been suffered, the hair grows back normally, although sometimes it can take several months.
The psychosomatic origin of this alteration has to do with the secretion of hormones and with the blood supply that reaches the scalp. When we stress, the stress hormones cause the body to begin to prioritize certain aspects and disregard others to make the body never stop being in a certain balance.
7. Psychogenic cough
Some people have coughing fits so intense and so frequent that their quality of life is affected. Normally this problem has a clear cause in some alteration of the respiratory system, but in other cases it is not possible to determine an origin that is not based, basically, on stress and suggestion. In these cases, the cough acts as a kind of recurring tic .
This kind of tics are typical in alterations produced by anxiety, since they are a way to release that energy that overwhelms us when thinking about what produces stress.
8. Psychogenic itching
People who experience this disorder caused by the mind they notice how a body area itches , which leads them to scratch uncontrollably. In addition, this itch has no biological causes attributable to the affected area, which is healthy. Suggestion has a very important role in this somatoform disorder.
9. Acne
The acne is basically based on the hormone production cycles , and this is something that almost totally depends on what happens in our brain. That is why stressful events are able to produce or worsen significantly cases of acne, very typical in adolescence and youth.
However, we must bear in mind that mental states are not the only factor that favors the appearance of acne. Genetics, and in particular skin type, also have a relevant role in this.
