Gray Matter

By FCS | April 24, 2018

My father always said his dad was a hypochondriac. When I was a little girl, I didn’t know what that meant. I just knew my grandfather complained about a lot of pain and illnesses, but never seemed to go to the doctor or to really be sick. His interpretations grew as did I. At one point, he was convinced, after hearing a woman mentioning her hysterectomy, that he needed to see a doctor and schedule one for himself. This concern was as serious and real to him as his many other self-diagnoses.

Hypochondria is now officially called “illness anxiety disorder,” or “health anxiety.” This overwhelmingly worried feeling is that you are or may become seriously ill. With minor symptoms/sensations or no symptoms, the stress of thinking you are sick can yield anxiety that can bring on debilitating effects. It is a long-term condition that is best addressed through a visit to your medical doctor, who may suggest counseling and/or medication.[i]

There are similar disorders, called Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD), Somatization or Somatoform Disorder, where physical symptoms are caused by extreme anxiety about physical symptoms. The person has intense thoughts, feelings, and behaviors related to the symptoms that interfere with daily life.[ii] The term “Psychosomatic Disorder” is in this family, as a psychosomatic disorder can be diagnosed when anxiety causes physical symptoms, but there is no physical disease. However, a psychosomatic disorder can be linked to a physical disease/condition caused, or made worse, by mental factors. These include psoriasiseczemastomach ulcershigh blood pressure and heart disease.

Have you ever known a woman to be completely convinced that she is pregnant, only to be devastated to find out she isn’t? The normal symptoms of PMS can mirror those of pregnancy, but with an extreme amount of anxiety or stress related to the desire to be pregnant, you can convince yourself to start thinking nurseries. When we are anxious, the brain sends out an increased amount of nervous impulses to different parts of the body and releases adrenaline (epinephrine) into the bloodstream. Couple the nervous impulses and adrenaline with an extreme desire for (or against) something physical related to your body, and it isn’t hard to see how the human mind can be a powerful creator of anxiety and pain.

To be fair to my grandfather, he grew up in a time when mental health, counseling and the American Psychiatric Association were not top-of-mind. He grew up poor in a very rural town. Interestingly, my father almost lost a finger in a boyhood accident, but his father knew some “self-taught first aid” that allowed my dad to keep all of his digits without any scars; mental or physical. Apparently, my grandfather knew something about taking proper care of physical pain.

 

[i] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/illness-anxiety-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20373782

[ii] https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/000955.htm

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