Can Emotions We Ignore Make Us Sick?
Sometimes you get sick even though you haven’t done anything wrong apparently. These are psychosomatic diseases. There is a phrase we hear frequently from those who have gone to the doctor, especially in recent years, “You have nothing,” he said, “it’s psychological.” All this negative charge, which cannot go out unless we can express and solve the psychosocial or emotional problems in our lives, manifests itself with bodily symptoms. Negative emotions that cannot be expressed, and uncompensated intense stress can change places and present themselves as pains, nausea, and tension.
What Are The Types of Psychosomatic Diseases?
Migraine, fibromyalgia, and skin disorders (allergies, shingles…) that we know the most are mostly psychosomatic. In such cases, we often think that we are sick and start seeking medical help. Sometimes medication is prescribed, and sometimes the doctor refers to a psychiatrist or psychologist because not all complaints originate from a physical problem. The congestion in our inner world manifests itself physically as we suppress it, and cannot see it or face it, which is actually good. They are the signals your body gives to save you. When these signals are ignored, researchers show us that psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety disorder are added to physical complaints.
In many studies, a history of recurrent major depressive disorder was found in 23 of the cases with medically unexplained symptoms such as chronic fatigue, pelvic pains, chest pain, chronic back pain, tinnitus, and irritable bowel syndrome.
When Can Emotions Cause Psychosomatic Diseases?
Let’s say you experienced an incident at work that you didn’t want, you got angry with your boss, but for a moment you don’t say anything. Though not a word comes out of your mouth, thoughts continue to speak in your mind, and you become angrier and angrier. As you get angry, you involuntarily clenched your jaw, perhaps clasped your hands, or shut yourself up at your desk. Even the possibility of seeing your boss every time you go to work reminds you of anger, and your jaw twitches again, your face is sullen, and you spend the whole day sitting at your desk and working.
The moment you go home and sit down, you feel an intense pain in your body, and as this situation continues, those pains become chronic and cause health problems. In some cases, we feel as if our hands are tied, and even though our inner voice is constantly telling us negative things, we try to go on with our lives as if there is no problem from the outside. Ignoring and devaluing our own feelings or real power has the effect of ingesting a harmful microbe in our bodies. When a negative emotion or a thought repeatedly attacks your internal system, if you cannot find a way to remove the negative, it will make you sick like a germ and your body will try to get rid of it through diseases. Of course, it is an inevitable fact that this is more painful.
How Can We Get Rid of Negative Emotions and Thoughts Before They Turn into Diseases?
You may have all these pains, or you may go to the doctor and be referred to a psychiatrist-psychologist. Know that it is not too late for a solution. The first thing you need to do is to notice what emotions you are feeling in which situation. You can get help from your body for this. It’s like what happens when you feel a heaviness inside when your heart is tight or your head hurts.
It is possible to express all these feelings by writing. Write without lifting the pen from the paper and without questioning yourself whether this is true. The second step is to identify when and how often all these feelings arise. Maybe it always shows up in the same place or always in the same person, now is the time to explore it. In the third step, we roll up our sleeves to find safe alternative ways for ourselves. You can throw away your accumulated anger by doing sports, writing down what you cannot say, or finding solutions for yourself. Do not forget to seek professional support when you cannot find a solution and need help.
