Psychosomatic Approach Research Articles

Reappraising the psychosomatic approach in the study of "chronic orofacial pain": looking for the essential nature of these intractable conditions.

As burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and atypical odontalgia (AO) continue to remain complex in terms of pathophysiology and lack explicit treatment protocol, clinicians are left searching for appropriate solutions. Oversimplification solves nothing about what bothers us in clinical situations with BMS or AO. It is important to treat a complicated phenomenon as complex. We should keep careful observations and fact-finding based on a pragmatic approach toward drug selection and prescription with regular follow-up. We also need to assess the long-term prognosis of treatment with a meticulous selection of sample size and characteristics. Further investigation of BMS and AO from a psychosomatic perspective has the potential to provide new insight into the interface between brain function and "chronic orofacial pain."

A Review on Chittodvega w.s.r to Generalized Anxiety Disorder and its Management

With the advent of modern science, human life has become much faster and more stressful. Psychiatric disorders are therefore expanding today, A wide range of psychiatric conditions have been described in Ayurveda. Ayurveda follows psychosomatic approach of health. Chittodvega is a Manasavikara mentioned by Charaka which is considered as a perfect word for highlighting the status of anxiety, Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Chittodvega can exists as a separate disease or can be an etiological factor for other psychic and psychosomatic diseases. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a mental health disorder that produces fear worry and a constant feeling of being overwhelmed. This on-going worry and tension may be accompanied by physical symptoms, such as restlessness, feeling on edge or easily fatigued, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension or problems sleeping. Being an alarming disease, it requires effective management. In recent years several synthetic drugs have been introduced for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Clinical trials have shown that anxiolytic drugs alone have limited long term efficacy and one cannot avoid major side effects such as drug dependence, drug resistance, sedation etc. Ayurveda follows psychosomatic approach of health. Acharya Charaka explains three types of therapies of physical and mental disorders Daivavyapasraya, Yuktivyapasrya, Satvajaya Chikitsa. So the present study deals with systemic review of Chittodvega from all the classics of Ayurveda and its management.

Validity study of the Japanese version of the Nijmegen Questionnaire for verifying dysfunctional breathing in Japanese asthma patients

Dysfunctional breathing (DB) is a clinical condition characterized by irregular breathing patterns presenting a sensation of dyspnea and a feeling of chest tightness. DB is a known comorbidity of asthma that is difficult to control, leading to poor quality of life, so early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention are essential to improve the clinical condition of asthma. The Nijmegen Questionnaire (NQ), developed to screen for DB and translated into various languages, is used worldwide. However, a Japanese NQ (JNQ) is unavailable, so DB has not been clinically verified in people with asthma in Japan. This study aimed to prepare a JNQ, verify its reliability and validity, and demonstrate its clinical benefits in asthma treatment. The JNQ was prepared by back-translating the NQ with the author's consent. The answers to self-administered questionnaires, including the JNQ, Asthma Control Test (ACT), Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ), Mini Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (Mini-AQLQ), and Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ-9), were obtained with the consent of 68 people with asthma (average age ± SD, 52.04± 12.43 years) who visited Nihon University Itabashi Hospital. The reliability of the JNQ was analyzed by the Cronbach alpha coefficient. Acomparative test was conducted for each questionnaire (ACT, ACQ, Mini-AQLQ, PHQ-9), considering a JNQ score of 23 as the cutoff value. Patients with a score of 23 or more were assigned to the DB group, whereas patients with a score of less than 23 were assigned to the non-DB group. We analyzed the correlation between the JNQ and each questionnaire. The JNQ showed sufficient reliability (Cronbach alpha= 0.875). Correlation analysis between the JNQ score and each questionnaire revealed negative correlations with the ACT score (r= 0.262) and Mini-AQLQ score (r= -0.453) and positive correlations with the ACQ score (r= 0.337) and PHQ-9 score (r= 0.539). All of these correlations were statistically significant. As a result of the comparative test, the DB and non-DB groups showed a significant difference in Mini-AQLQ (P= .023) and PHQ-9 (P= .003) scores. No significant difference was observed between ACT (P= .294) and ACQ (P= .177) scores. The JNQ validates DB in Japanese people with asthma and reflects the deterioration of asthma control, decreased quality of life, and depression. Using the JNQ, early diagnosis and therapeutic intervention (eg, breathing exercises and a psychosomatic approach) for DB in people with asthma may help suppress the severity of asthma in Japan.

Sattvavajaya Chikitsa: Need of Today’s Era

Speed, accuracy and over ambitiousness are the prime demands of today’s metaphysical society. People can’t even pay attention to their physical and mental health. Irregular food habits, suppression of natural urges, insomnia are becoming the part and parcel of today’s life, giving rise to psychosomatic disorders. Ayurveda, the ancient system of Indian medicine evolved through millennium contains clear potentials of the modern understanding of natural science. Inspire of its historically inevitable beginnings, the science took in the ancient period itself the momentous step from the magic-religious therapeutics to rational therapeutics i.e., in the terminology of physicians themselves from Daivavyapashraya Chikitsa to Sattvavajaya Chikitsa. Ayurveda has considered the mental and physical diseases as two separate specialized subjects in certain contexts. However, no line of demarcation has been drawn between the physical and mental diseases and a flexible psychosomatic approach has been put forward. Ayurveda emphasizes its treatment modalities into three Chikitsa viz., Sattvavajaya Chikitsa, Yuktivyapashraya and Daivavyapashraya Chikitsa. Sattvavajaya is the mental restraint, or a “mind control” as referred by Charaka, is achieved through “spiritual knowledge, philosophy, fortitude, remembrance, and concentration. Health regimens as (Swasthvritta), good conduct (Sadvritta), and yoga acts as a traditional mental health promoting practices.

Theoretical prerequisites of psycho-physical training in physical education

In this article, research provides the results of theoretical prerequisites for the formation of individual's structural components in the area of physical education. The authors believe that such prerequisites relate to the scientific achievements made by representatives of several scientific branches who have studied the mutual impact of the human body and mind. Within this context, there are considered such aspects as: the treatment to the issue of the physical in human beings through philosophy, psychoanalysis, the body-based approach in psychology, the psychosomatic approach in medicine, the psychology of development, and body-oriented psychotherapy. The authors consider that the results of the research in these areas provide evidence for specialists of physical education to assume that it is possible to form components of the mental structure through the influence on the human body (via physical exercises).

Medicinal plants and foods with metaphorical concepts in Rumi's "Masnavi Manavi": The psychosomatic approach to human health.

"Masnavi Manavi" is one of the most valuable texts of Persian literature. In this book, Rumi (Mevlana) with a unique method and in the form of moral stories teaches life lessons, mystical truths and even therapeutic advices to people. The aim of this study is to highlight the medicinal plants and foods that had been applied both in somatic and spiritual concept in "Masnavi Manavi' poems. For this purpose, a library-based, descriptive and analytical method was used. Some medicinal plants and food terms such as rose-water, vinegar, honey, oxymel, common reed, grape, onion, garlic and wheat are mentioned in this study to show Rumi's metaphorical and therapeutic approach as a doctor who treats both soul and body. In fact, Rumi's intention to apply these terms was to express his ideas and views about the inseparability of physical and spiritual aspects in human health and well-being. Rumi focus in "Masnavi Manavi" moral stories is the soul health and consider body as carrier of the soul. Therefore, because of this psychosomatic approach to human disease, he selects the most suitable herbs and foods for explaining spiritual and somatic medicine.

The Rise and Fall of the Psychosomatic Approach to Medically Unexplained Symptoms, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

The psychosomatic approach to medically unexplained symptoms, myalgic encephalomyelitis and chronic fatigue syndrome (MUS/ME/CFS) is critically reviewed using scientific criteria. Based on the ‘Biopsychosocial Model’, the psychosomatic theory proposes that patients’ dysfunctional beliefs, deconditioning and attentional biases cause or make illness worse, disrupt therapies, and lead to preventable deaths. The evidence reviewed suggests that none of these psychosomatic hypotheses is empirically supported. The lack of robust supportive evidence together with the use of fallacious causal assumptions, inappropriate and harmful therapies, broken scientific principles, repeated methodological flaws and an unwillingness to share data all give the appearance of cargo cult science. The psychosomatic approach needs to be replaced by a scientific, biologically grounded approach to MUS/ME/CFS that can be expected to provide patients with appropriate care and treatments. Patients with MUS/ME/CFS and their families have not been treated with the dignity, respect and care that is their human right. Patients with MUS/ME/CFS and their families could consider a class action legal case against the injuring parties.

Sin embodied: Priest-psychiatrist Asser Stenbäck and the psychosomatic approach to human problems

Combining theological and medical perspectives is indispensable for the historical study of the interconnections between mind, body, and soul. This article explores these relations through the history of Finnish psychosomatic medicine, and uses published and archival materials to examine the intellectual biography of the Finland-Swedish theologian turned psychiatrist Asser Stenbäck (1913–2006). Stenbäck's career, which evolved from priesthood to psychiatry and politics, reveals a great deal about the tensions between religion and medicine, the spiritual and scientific groups that impinged upon psychosomatic medicine, and ideas on how health and Christian morality were interconnected. The biographical approach is adopted to unearth the values encoded in medical concepts, and through this, to point towards another, underexplored dimension of the health–religion relationship. In addition to their emotional aspect, religious doctrines are intended to organise life and give it meaning. Stenbäck's ideas tied these experiential and normative spheres together by defending an irrationalist substratum of the world in the secular age of medicine. His work illustrates how the inner experience of faith can become both medically and politically purposive. It is worth combining these perspectives in historical research as well in order to better understand how the theological, medical, and political worlds are in dialogue when it comes to human problems.

Гиперактивный мочевой пузырь в структуре соматизированной депрессии

In everyday practice, urologists often encounter clinical manifestations of overactive bladder (OAB), without of organic or infectious disease. In such cases, OAB may appears in the structure of a somatized (more often depressive) disorder, and therefore an integrated psychosomatic approach to such patient management is becoming increasingly relevant. The relevance of studying the topic is due to the high prevalence of OAB symptoms, its recurrent course, insufficient effectiveness of urological treatment, a significant decrease in the quality of life and working capacity of the socially active part of the adult population. Our clinical observation illustrates the development of symptoms of OAB with massive "pseudo-urological" symptoms within the framework of recurrent somatized depression in a woman of involutional age.

Contemporary Approaches to Diagnosis, Psychotherapy and Neuro-Psychocorrection of Emotional Disorders in Psychosomatic Diseases

The article is devoted to the problem of complex consideration of psychotherapeutic methods in psychocorrection of emotional disorders in combination with neuropsychological technologies in psychosomatic diseases. The most popular psychotherapeutic and neuropsychological methods in foreign and domestic works which can be applied in the psychosomatic approach to diagnostics and therapy of emotional frustration are considered. Certain neuropsychological mechanisms of emotional and psychosomatic disorders are analysed. The role of the emotional factor in the occurrence of psychosomatic diseases is emphasized. It is proposed to replace psychopharmacology with neuro psycho-corrective aids to restore optimal neurophysiological functions of the central nervous system, taking into account the degree of its recovery and availability of emotional and personal resources of the client. Psychotherapeutic and neuropsychological recommendations for recovery of psychosomatic health have been developed.

Возможности применения сказкотерапии в работе с деструктивными психологическими сценариями первокурсников образовательных учреждений высшего образования

The article considers one of such obstacles to qualitative constructive changes in personality development, namely the destructive behavioral scenario. Many people repeatedly lose certain behavioral scenarios without realizing their constructiveness or destructiveness. Close people in the process of raising a child influence the formation of beliefs, values and norms, including through fairy tales, initially offering certain fairy tales to the child, guided by their own preferences and assessments of the actions of the characters. Recently, this genre of folk folklore has been actively used in psychology and pedagogy as an element of correction.
 The purpose of the study was to identify destructive behavioral scenarios. The communicative-cognitive and psychosomatic approaches were used, the study was conducted in the 2019-2020 academic year in educational institutions of higher education of the Moscow region. The respondents of the study were 60 first-year students of various (average age 18.7 years). Male and female students were equally present.
 The results of the study show that first-year students of educational institutions of higher education demonstrate a certain attitude towards themselves and the world, reflected in the fundamental resource life attitudes formed in childhood through fairy tales. This attitude affects their current state, which is characterized by a commitment to the previous lifestyle, but also a desire for transformations associated with a change in the social situation of development

Psychosomatic Approach to Fibromyalgia Syndrome: Concept, Diagnosis and Treatment

<p>Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) has chronic widespread pain (CWP) as a core symptom and a variety of associated somatic and psychological symptoms such as fatigue, sleep problems, cognitive disturbances, multiple somatic pain, and depression. FMS is the subject of considerable controversy in the realm of nosology, diagnosis, pathophysiology, and treatment. Moreover, the fact that FMS and mental illness are closely associated with each other might intensify the confusion for the distinction between FMS and mental disorders. This narrative literature review aims to provide the concept, diagnosis, and treatment of FMS from the integrative biopsychosocial and psychosomatic perspective. This article first explains the concepts of FMS as a disease entity of biopsychosocial model, and then summarizes the changes of diagnostic criteria over past three decades, differential diagnosis and comorbidity issue focused on mental illnesses. In addition, an overview of treatment of FMS is presented mainly by arranging the recommendations from the international guidelines which have been developed by four official academic associations.</p>

Complex regional pain syndrome-An interdisciplinary view from the surgical consultation

Chronic pain disorders are common and have a substantial impact on the patients' daily life. The specific syndrome of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS, Sudeck's disease) is comparatively rare and characterized by additional sensorimotor, vascular and trophic dysfunctions. The diagnosis is made based on the Budapest criteria and according to clinical symptoms. According to the German national guidelines, multimodal therapy includes drug, rehabilitative and psychosomatic approaches for the reduction of pain and restoration of functionality. Bisphosphonates, steroids and antiepileptic drugs are well-established as medicinal treatment but should always be used in combination with functional therapy. Interventional treatment options are reserved for patients with complicated and enduring symptoms and should be carried out in specialized centers. The course of the disease is highly individual and frequently requires along-term interdisciplinary treatment.

ВВЕДЕНИЕ В ПРОБЛЕМУ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ МЕДИКО-ПСИХОЛОГИЧЕСКОГО СОПРОВОЖДЕНИЯ ОНКОПАЦИЕНТОВ ДЕТСКОГО ВОЗРАСТА И ИХ РОДИТЕЛЕЙ

Statement of the problem. The article provides an overview of theoretical and experimental studies related to the organization of medical and psychological support for pediatric cancer patients and their immediate environment – parents. There is a contradiction between the increased attention to the issue of providing medical and psychological assistance to cancer patients and the lack of a comprehensive model of care focused on relying on the patient’s personality, taking into account the uniqueness of assistance at different stages of treatment and, depending on the child’s age, providing psychological support to the immediate environment of the childhood cancer patient. The purpose of the article is to analyze the current state of the problem on providing systematic medical and psychological assistance to pediatric cancer patients and their families, to identify various organizations of psychological support for this category of addressees of psychological assistance. The research methodology is based on the ideas of the system approach, psychosomatic approach, cultural and historical development of the human psyche, statements of the subject-activity approach. Research results. The analysis of the targets of medical and psychological care for pediatric cancer patients and their parents, presented in modern Russian and foreign sources, is presented. Problems in the implementation of medical and psychological assistance to children with cancer and their families are generalized. Conclusion. As a result of the analysis of the problems, the prospects for the study of medical and psychological care for pediatric cancer patients and their parents are outlined: the study of the personality characteristics of cancer patients and their parents, the study of the features of the formation of adaptive types of attitudes towards the disease in families, the development and testing of a model of medical and psychological care for this category of persons.

Psychosomatic aspects of psoriasis (review)

The review reflects the increased scientific interest in the psychosomatic aspects of psoriasis in the world literature in recent years. The studied material of the articles is structured according to the principles of the modern clinical psychosomatic approach. The introduction substantiates the relevance of studying this topic. The article considers the stress manifestations/examinations of psoriasis under the influence of psychosocial acute and chronic stress, including under the action of the COVID-19 pandemic; the quality of life and stigmatization of patients with psoriasis. The driving factors leading to the formation of nosogenic psychosomatic disorders are identified: common disfiguring rashes, itching, recurrent course, the threat of disability, social restrictions, constitutional premorbid features of patients. The description of comorbid mental disorders of the anxiety and affective range with a discussion of suicidal risk is presented. A separate section of the review is devoted to itching, as one of the most discussed aspects of psoriasis in the modern literature. Different points of view on the psycho-biological structure of itching in psoriasis are presented. Various factors related to the intensity, objective and subjective perception of itching are considered. Among them are the clinical form and severity of psoriasis, the localization and prevalence of rashes, gender, age, level of education, marital status of patients, concomitant somatic and mental diseases.

‘A transverse scar on the neck’ – psychosomatic approach in the differential diagnosis and surgical treatment of hyperthyroidism in post-war Finland

AbstractIn the Finnish medical discussion during the middle decades of the twentieth century, the challenging differential diagnostics between hyperthyroidism and various neuroses was perceived to yield a risk of unnecessary surgical interventions of psychiatric patients. In 1963, the Finnish surgeon Erkki Saarenmaa claimed that ‘the most significant mark of a neurotic was a transverse scar on the neck’, a result of an unnecessary thyroid surgery. The utterance was connected to the complex nature of thyroid diseases, which seemed to be to ‘a great extent psychosomatic’. Setting forth from this statement, the article aims to decipher the connection between hyperthyroidism, unnecessary surgical treatment and the psychosomatic approach in Finnish medicine. Utilising a wide variety of published medical research and discussion in specialist journals, the article examines the theoretical debate around troublesome diagnostics of functional complaints. It focuses on the introduction of new medical ideas, namely the concepts of ‘psychosomatics’ and ‘stress’. In the process, the article aims to unveil a definition of psychosomatic illness that places it on a continuum between psychological and somatic illness. That psychosomatic approach creates a space with interpretative potential can be applied to the historiography of psychosomatic phenomena more generally. Further inquiry into the intersections of surgery and psychosomatics would enrich both historiographies. It is also argued that the historical study of psychosomatic syndromes may become skewed, if the term ‘psychosomatic’ is from the outset taken to signify something that is all in the mind.

A psicossomática nos trabalhos de conclusão de curso de Naturologia da Unisul: uma análise à luz do pensamento sistêmico e da visão multidimensional da doença

Na busca por uma abordagem integral em saúde, a psicossomática pode ser uma ferramenta de compreensão da relação mente-corpo no processo de adoecimento. No entanto, é preciso atentar para a existência de múltiplas abordagens em psicossomática. O objetivo da presente pesquisa foi analisar o uso dos fundamentos da psicossomática nos trabalhos de conclusão de curso (TCC) do bacharelado em Naturologia da UNISUL. A pesquisa qualifica-se como qualitativa, de caráter documental e exploratório. Foram utilizados os TCC’s produzidos no período de 2004 a 2018. Selecionou-se 24 artigos à partir dos critérios adotados. Os artigos foram analisados por meio de Análise de Conteúdo Temático, a partir de três categorias dadas a posteriori: a) A psicossomática como explicação causal da doença b) A responsabilização do indivíduo pela doença c) Doença como perda de harmonia. Como resultado, verificou-se um amplo uso do pensamento psicossomático nos trabalhos. Notou-se uma tendência a fazer relações diretas entre sintomatologias específicas e determinadas emoções, bem como a compreensão de que esse fenômeno adota unidirecionalmente o sentido mente-corpo. O adoecimento é entendido como perda da harmonia ou do equilíbrio interno. Apesar de ser compreendido com fenômeno multifatorial, ressalta-se a dimensão individual. Discutiu-se a necessidade de reconhecer a singularidade do sujeito no processo de adoecimento, bem como a valorização da construção da própria narrativa e reconhecimento da dimensão sistêmica do fenômeno. Por conseguinte, pode-se inferir que há uma necessidade de definição de um referencial teórico em psicossomática compatível com a compreensão sistêmica e multidimensional de saúde da naturologia.

Quality of Life and Psychological Impact in Patients with Atopic Dermatitis.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a dermatological disorder that affects patients’ mental health and psychological state in complex ways. The importance of understanding the entire scope of this burden is well recognized, but there is limited comprehensive information about the resulting stress on adult patients with AD. This study aimed to determine the degree of psychological stress in patients with AD compared to healthy participants. A total of 352 adult patients participated in this cross-sectional study—174 with AD and 178 healthy participants. Demographic and clinical data were collected. Itch and sleep disturbance were assessed using a numeric rating scale and a visual analogue scale. The 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) questionnaires were administered to assess the symptoms of alexithymia and depression. Quality of life (QOL) was assessed in AD patients using the Dermatology Quality Index. In our study, we found high TAS-20 and BDI scores among patients with AD. The prevalence of alexithymic personality features was 56.3% in patients with AD versus 21.3% in healthy controls (p < 0.001). Based on BDI scoring (BDI-21 > 13), depression was suspected in a significantly higher number of patients with AD than in the control group (56.9% (99/174) vs. 15.7% (28/178); p < 0.0001). Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) score did not show any significant correlations with psychological parameters. Among clinical parameters, only sleep disturbance was positively correlated with depression (R = 0.307, p < 0.005). Our data show that the severity index score as a representative factor of skin involvement has a limited role in predicting the effect of skin diseases on mental status. Screening and assessment for psychiatric disorders, QOL, and sleep disturbance in patients with atopic dermatitis cannot be neglected by physicians and they should be treated in clinical practice with the consideration of psychosomatic approaches.

The history of the medicalisation of rapid ejaculation—A reflection of the rising importance of female pleasure in a phallocentric world

ABSTRACT Early ejaculation is a male dysfunction that became a subject of medical and psychological interest concurrently with the growing recognition of the importance of female sexual needs. Psychoanalytical ideas, psychosomatic approaches, behavioural concepts, and, in recent decades, rampant pharmacologization based on biological reductionism have been used to explain the condition and to propose various treatments. The history of the medicalisation of rapid ejaculation reflects the evolution of sexual norms and expectations regarding the desired length of intercourse, accepted ways of achieving orgasm, and ideal sexual scripts for both men and women.

Fairy tale as a method of diagnosing destructive life attitudes in Agrarian University students

The goal of the conducted study is to reveal the possible destructive life attitudes among the student youth of an agrarian university using a projective method. The scientific novelty of the study is predetermined by the communicative-cognitive and psychosomatic approaches and interdisciplinary methods, the primary of them being a projective method: the study identifies the specific characteristics of fairy tales as a method of diagnosing destructive life attitudes in agrarian university students. The study shows that the choice of a fairy tale and the character a young person associates themselves with serves as a projection of personality characteristics and fundamental life attitudes. As a result, it is demonstrated that a fairy tale affects the current state of rural youth who have come to the city to study and expresses their commitment to the rural lifestyle accompanied, however, by a desire for change that under certain conditions can lead to destructive behavior through the activation of inner resources and increased emotional tension.