Psychosomatics

The human interacts with his/her environment. As long as the environment is safe and non-threatening, the body and mind remain comfortably. When the environment presents experiences that push beyond reasonable endurance, the brain reacts, and then the body. This interaction between the person and the world, the changes that occur in the brain and body as a result of this interaction, is psychosomatics. Psychosomatic has nothing to do with the idea that "It's all in your mind." when referring to complaints of symptoms. All pain is considered real by a psychosomatics expert. However, pain may be a body's reaction to stress or a result of a disease process. When a physician looks at a patient's complaints, when he examines someone, he is looking for a causal connection. Often he/she looks for blood changes, organ changes, or other indications of disease. If he/she doesn't find anything, he may ask whether the person is under stress or not. The symptom is no less important if it is stress induced than if it is organ or blood related. However, the certainty of diagnosis may be more elusive. In a definition: Psychosomatics is that discipline of medicine in which the interaction of physical and psychological factors give rise to significant symptoms or disease. In some illnesses the psychological factors are paramount. Some of these are asthma, arthritis, hypertension, allergies, etc. These illnesses occur in people with known pathology. However, they are prone to psychological influences and this is why they are viewed as psychosomatic. Some see most illnesses as more or less psychosomatic, to different degrees depending on which component, the physical or psychological, are operating.