Somatic psychology is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on somatic experience, including therapeutic and holistic approaches to the body. Body psychotherapy is a general branch of this subject, while somatherapy, eco-somatics and dance therapy, for example, are specific branches of the subject. Somatic psychology is a framework that seeks to bridge the mind-body dichotomy.
Pierre Janet can perhaps be considered the first somatic psychologist due to his extensive psychotherapeutic studies and writings with significant reference to the body (some of which pre-date Freud).[1] According to psychodynamic psychology, it is only gradually that the body entered into the realm of available techniques that could be used in a psychodynamic frame. This idea was, in part, developed by Sándor Ferenczi and his friend Georg Groddeck, then Otto Fenichel and his friend Wilhelm Reich. Wilhelm Reich is the first who tried to develop a clear psychodynamic approach that included the body, but he soon found out that it could not be done.[2][3] He then developed his own way of combining body and mind and the somatic regulators that connect these two dimensions.[4] Reich was a significant influence in the founding of body psychotherapy (or somatic psychology as it is often known in the USA and Australia) – though he called his early work “character analysis”[5] and “character-analytic vegetotherapy”). Several types of body-oriented psychotherapies trace their origins back to Reich, though there have been many subsequent developments and other influences on body psychotherapy and somatic psychology is of particular interest in trauma work.[6][7]
Dance therapy and dance movement psychotherapy reflect some of this approach and are each considered a study and practice within the field of somatic psychology.[8][9][10][11]
Principles
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As a field of study, somatic psychology has been defined as: ‘the study of the mind/body interface, the relationship between our physical matter and our energy, the interaction of our body structures with our thoughts and actions.'[12]
The primary relationship addressed in somatic psychology is the person’s relation to and empathy with their own felt body.[13] It is based on a belief, from the principles of vitalism, that bringing sufficient awareness will cause healing.[14]
Applications
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A wide variety of techniques are used in somatic psychotherapy including sound, touch, mirroring, movement and breath. An individual records life experience during a pre- and nonverbal period differently than during a verbalized and personal narrative period. Working with the client’s implicit knowing[15][16] of these early experiences, somatic psychology includes the non-verbal qualities that mark most human communication, especially in the first years of life. This understanding of consciousness, communication and mind-body language challenges some traditional applications of the talking cure.[17]
Practitioners in this field believe psychological, social, cultural and political forces support the splitting and fragmentation of the mind-body unity. These pressures affect an individual’s mental, biological, and relational health.[18] For example, the writer Alice Miller in her recent book ‘The Body Never Lies'[19] says, Ultimately the body will rebel. Even if it can be temporarily pacified with the help of drugs, cigarettes or medicine, it usually has the last word because it is quicker to see through self-deception than the mind. We may ignore or deride the messages of the body, but its rebellion demands to be heeded because its language is the authentic expression of our true selves and of the strength of our vitality.
History
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Wilhelm Reich’s pre-eminence as founder of the modern field is open to question. His teacher and the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, explored the role of body in neurosis, as well as undertaking research on the therapeutic effects of cocaine (beginning on April 24, 1884, when he ordered his first gram of cocaine from the local apothecary). Freud also showed an interest in the nasal reflex neurosis and in vital periodicity, explored during a significant relationship with Wilhelm Fliess between 1887 and 1902.[20] Wilhelm Fliess believed that the nose was the centre of all human illness through its structural deviations to the passage of breath.[21][22]
See also
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References
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Media related to Somatic psychology at Wikimedia Commons
Overview
Somatic symptom disorder is characterized by an extreme focus on physical symptoms — such as pain or fatigue — that causes major emotional distress and problems functioning. You may or may not have another diagnosed medical condition associated with these symptoms, but your reaction to the symptoms is not normal.
You often think the worst about your symptoms and frequently seek medical care, continuing to search for an explanation even when other serious conditions have been excluded. Health concerns may become such a central focus of your life that it’s hard to function, sometimes leading to disability.
If you have somatic symptom disorder, you may experience significant emotional and physical distress. Treatment can help ease symptoms, help you cope and improve your quality of life.
Symptoms
Symptoms of somatic symptom disorder may be:
- Specific sensations, such as pain or shortness of breath, or more general symptoms, such as fatigue or weakness
- Unrelated to any medical cause that can be identified, or related to a medical condition such as cancer or heart disease, but more significant than what’s usually expected
- A single symptom, multiple symptoms or varying symptoms
- Mild, moderate or severe
Pain is the most common symptom, but whatever your symptoms, you have excessive thoughts, feelings or behaviors related to those symptoms, which cause significant problems, make it difficult to function and sometimes can be disabling.
These thoughts, feelings and behaviors can include:
- Constant worry about potential illness
- Viewing normal physical sensations as a sign of severe physical illness
- Fearing that symptoms are serious, even when there is no evidence
- Thinking that physical sensations are threatening or harmful
- Feeling that medical evaluation and treatment have not been adequate
- Fearing that physical activity may cause damage to your body
- Repeatedly checking your body for abnormalities
- Frequent health care visits that don’t relieve your concerns or that make them worse
- Being unresponsive to medical treatment or unusually sensitive to medication side effects
- Having a more severe impairment than is usually expected from a medical condition
For somatic symptom disorder, more important than the specific physical symptoms you experience is the way you interpret and react to the symptoms and how they impact your daily life.
When to see a doctor
Because physical symptoms can be related to medical problems, it’s important to be evaluated by your primary care provider if you aren’t sure what’s causing your symptoms. If your primary care provider believes that you may have somatic symptom disorder, he or she can refer you to a mental health professional.
Caring for a loved one
When physical symptoms considered to be somatic symptom disorder occur, it can be difficult to accept that a life-threatening illness has been eliminated as the cause. Symptoms cause very real distress for the person and reassurance isn’t always helpful. Encourage your loved one to consider the possibility of a mental health referral to learn ways to cope with the reaction to symptoms and any disability it causes.
Physical disability may cause the person to be dependent and need extra physical care and emotional support that can exhaust caregivers and cause stress on families and relationships. If you feel overwhelmed by your role as caregiver, you may want to talk to a mental health professional to address your own needs.
Causes
The exact cause of somatic symptom disorder isn’t clear, but any of these factors may play a role:
- Genetic and biological factors, such as an increased sensitivity to pain
- Family influence, which may be genetic or environmental, or both
- Personality trait of negativity, which can impact how you identify and perceive illness and bodily symptoms
- Decreased awareness of or problems processing emotions, causing physical symptoms to become the focus rather than the emotional issues
- Learned behavior — for example, the attention or other benefits gained from having an illness; or “pain behaviors” in response to symptoms, such as excessive avoidance of activity, which can increase your level of disability
Risk factors
Risk factors for somatic symptom disorder include:
- Having anxiety or depression
- Having a medical condition or recovering from one
- Being at risk of developing a medical condition, such as having a strong family history of a disease
- Experiencing stressful life events, trauma or violence
- Having experienced past trauma, such as childhood sexual abuse
- Having a lower level of education and socio-economic status
Complications
Somatic symptom disorder can be associated with:
- Poor health
- Problems functioning in daily life, including physical disability
- Problems with relationships
- Problems at work or unemployment
- Other mental health disorders, such as anxiety, depression and personality disorders
- Increased suicide risk related to depression
- Financial problems due to excessive health care visits
Prevention
Little is known about how to prevent somatic symptom disorder. However, these recommendations may help.
- If you have problems with anxiety or depression, seek professional help as soon as possible.
- Learn to recognize when you’re stressed and how this affects your body — and regularly practice stress management and relaxation techniques.
- If you think you have somatic symptom disorder, get treatment early to help stop symptoms from getting worse and impairing your quality of life.
- Stick with your treatment plan to help prevent relapses or worsening of symptoms.
Overview
What is a psychosomatic disorder?
Psychosomatic disorder is a psychological condition involving the occurrence of physical symptoms, usually lacking a medical explanation. People with this condition may have excessive thoughts, feelings or concerns about the symptoms — which affects their ability to function well.
People with psychosomatic disorder usually don’t report overt symptoms of psychiatric distress. Instead, they believe their problems are caused by medical conditions. They tend to visit healthcare providers frequently to get tests and treatments, often not receiving a diagnosis, which may lead to frustration and distress.
Psychosomatic disorder is sometimes called somatic symptom disorder, somatic symptoms or somatic pain.
How common is somatic symptom disorder?
Somatic symptom disorder is common, occurring in about 5% to 7% of the general population. For reasons that are not understood, women have somatic pain about 10 times more often than men.
Who might have somatic symptoms?
Anyone can have somatic symptoms at any age.
Studies have found that certain things may make people more likely to have somatic symptoms:
- Chaotic lifestyle.
- Difficulty recognizing and expressing emotions.
- Childhood neglect.
- History of sexual abuse.
- Other psychological conditions, such as depression or personality disorders.
- Substance abuse (such as alcoholism or drug addiction).
- Unemployment.
How can psychosomatic disorder affect my body?
Psychosomatic disorder can affect almost any part of the body. Common examples include:
