Why Do We Need A Disease Or 10 Main Functions Of A Psychosomatic Symptom

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

When people talk about psychosomatics, I often mention the metaphor of what an orange would look like when taken apart into slices? If cut across? If cut along? If you squeeze and squeeze the juice through a small hole? Not to mention the variety of varieties and the degree of maturity. We can see and perceive an orange in different ways, and reason about what we see accordingly, but the orange remains an orange.

Likewise, I perceive dialogues about what a psychosomatic symptom is, what function it performs, and what is behind this or that illness or "failure to recover." Sometimes everything looks very simple and obvious, sometimes it seems confusing and hopeless, and sometimes what we consider elementary becomes unattainable, and vice versa, the hopeless finds a solution in the shortest possible time;).

Everything that we can independently analyze in our psychosomatic status helps us to identify the so-called. "a diary of introspection of a psychosomatic symptom". However, there are many psychological effects and reasons why some of the psychosomatic symptoms do not lend themselves to introspection. What are the most common functions of psychosomatic disorders and diseases that are revealed to us in psychotherapeutic work with a client:

1. Communicative function

When the body speaks for us. We talk about this function if a symptom expresses what we cannot say otherwise - we do not know how or we do not allow ourselves. An example is attacks of a suffocating cough in a child who is sexually seduced, but does not fully understand what is happening, how and to whom to pass on his frightening experience. Another example is the cardioneurosis of a man who is in a relationship not for love, but because "it's a pity to leave a woman who loves him so much." Or, on the contrary, persistent gynecological diseases in a woman who got married "of convenience", etc. In such situations, clients often do not realize the connection between a psychosomatic symptom and what is happening in their life, therefore, the more emotional discomfort they experience, the more their symptoms intensify.

2. Metaphorical function

Such diseases are closely related to the associations of the client himself, his personal life or family history. In the process of psychotherapy, he either discovers an irrational attitude that he learned in childhood by making the wrong conclusions about a situation (for example, when he heard in childhood that his grandmother died in a dream from cardiac arrest, in adulthood he begins to suffer from heart disease, accompanied by nightmares and insomnia). Or he discovers that he unconsciously ignores any information in his life (for example, visual impairment against the background of a betrayal of a partner).

3. Substitution function

One of the most common cases in the practice of psychosomatic disorders therapy. When life loses its colors, what used to bring pleasure and joy is no longer interesting, the prospects in life are vague, self-esteem is underestimated and, in general, life turns into a meaningless "Groundhog Day". In place of this psychological pit, a depressive or neurotic disorder develops, which can manifest itself as separate symptoms (cough, heart pain, dizziness, etc.) and full-fledged diseases.

4. Delay or avoidance function

Such a function helps us to postpone some work or agreement until an indefinite time. At the same time, clients are often confident that they are about to finish treatment and begin to solve the declared problem, while unconsciously immediately suggest that their disease is most likely incurable and they will not get rid of it soon. An example of an easy option is a sudden ARI on the eve of a report or before a test at school. A more complex case can be presented in "incurable panic disorder" when a man unconsciously refuses to live in his family (communicating with children, solving household issues, meeting growing material needs, etc.).

5. Displacement function

Such a psychosomatic symptom most often hides cases of various kinds of violence. Both moral and psychological, and physical. We can also talk about a complex traumatic event, grief, loss, experiences of splitting and dissociation. Sometimes the client remembers the traumatic event, but does not associate it with his illness. However, such experiences often traumatize the psyche so much that the client displaces this event from memory and some do not remember the trauma itself, while others “erased” whole months and even years from their memory. A significant resource is spent on displacing this information and the client himself does not understand why he suddenly begins to get sick so much, it is difficult.

6. Manipulative function

Sometimes it happens that the disease helps us to unconsciously regulate the behavior of our loved ones. Examples can be both the childhood illnesses of a child themselves who attract the attention of constantly working adults or who are trying to unite quarreling parents by taking care of their health. Likewise, parents who receive special courtesy, helpfulness and care for themselves from their children (at any age) unconsciously resorting to a psychosomatic symptom. Some people use diseases (especially in cases of exaggeration of symptoms) to get compensation, benefits and additional services from the state or helping organizations. Sometimes diseases help partners to hold on to the "not formed halves" by manipulating a sense of duty, guilt, pity, compassion, etc.

7. Self-punishment function

There are also stories when a psychosomatic symptom is unconsciously formed from a sense of guilt, both real (betrayal) and irrational (could not predict the death of a loved one). Self-punishment can also be a disease that was formed from a person's false attitudes about himself (for example, when a child is taught from childhood that he is not smart enough, handsome, kind and good). Then a vicious circle turns out, where, on the one hand, a person strives to do everything perfectly in order to prove that he is "good", and on the other hand, as soon as he succeeds in doing something worthy of high praise, he gets sick, because considers success undeserved (he is sure of his badness).

8. The function of self-knowledge and growth

Often, there is no personal tragedy, trauma, or manipulation behind the symptom. And clients simply in a rush of life get confused in their goals and desires, lose the guiding lines of their purpose and meaning of existence, feel that they are not living their own lives, etc. At the same time, they suppress their feelings of dissatisfaction, ok - a good family, well-functioning life, pleasant leisure, stable work, etc., and there are no apparent reasons for "stopping". Then the accumulated and suppressed feelings of dissatisfaction with their spiritual life manifest themselves in the form of a psychosomatic disorder or illness.

9. Protective function

There is a category of people who show themselves excessively and excessively in their life. These are perfectionists and workaholics who, on the basis of distorted children's attitudes, drive their body into constant functioning on the verge of exhaustion. Depending on the degree of perfectionism developed, the onset of a psychosomatic disorder or illness may be a simple opportunity to take a break, take a break and recuperate.

10. "Permission" function

Also in psychosomatic practice, there are often clients who are brought up in the spirit of irrational self-sacrifice and dedication. But nature takes its toll and in order to fulfill its needs without feeling guilty, the body resorts to a cunning trick - taking care of itself through illness. More often it comes down to the need to buy high-quality natural clothing, use the services of a beautician and other "personal" masters, eat quality food, sometimes even live in an area with a special climate, etc.

Depending on what is hidden behind this or that symptom, we choose the tactics of psychotherapeutic influence. The main task is to recognize the function of the symptom (why is this happening to us) and find or master the methods of how you can get what you want constructively, without resorting to the symptom. In most cases, the client can solve these problems on his own using introspection techniques.

At the same time, in some cases, the same client may accumulate several symptoms with different functions. Then it will be correct to establish a connection between them and determine priorities and sequence (which situation served as an impetus; what is really significant, and what leads us away from analysis; what is common in symptoms and what is the dependence and dynamics, etc.). This work is especially important in the case when psychosomatic pathology consisted of various symptoms over the years. Getting used to dealing with them, the client built his studies and work, personal and family life, rest and entertainment, etc. outside world before symptoms appear). Of course, such symptoms give a very strong resistance in the psychotherapeutic process and it makes sense to start unwinding this ball from distant and less significant, but closely related to the main problem. Here therapy will always be long-term and labor-intensive, but each step of improving the quality of life leads clients to new discoveries, self-acceptance, satisfaction and confidence.