Man is, by his own nature, a bio-psycho-spiritual unit. Comprehensive unit of body, mind and spirit in which what happens with each of the dimensions has an impact on the others. Man is a corporeal being, this is a reality that is immediately evident. Our body has physical requirements and needs linked to this dimension that cannot be neglected: breathing, food, drink, shelter and other needs linked to well-being. It is clear that biology does not explain everything we are. If we continue advancing in our own experience as people, we notice that our relationship with the world transcends this level, thus we discover that we have a psychological dimension. This dimension also has its own requirements or needs. In this Psychology-Online article we will explain the relationship between diseases and emotions and their causes.
Most of us have at some point heard our doctor, a coworker, or a friend ask and then advise the following: “Have you been stressed a lot lately? You should relax a little more, you should drink this tea that will be very good for your health, I recommend these pills that will surely relax your nervous system.” We receive an arsenal of options to restore our health and, in a way, this holds a degree of truth but at the same time a very important part of its true cause and its preferred psychological intervention is eluded.
To achieve a better discernment of all these options that are offered to us daily, it is necessary to have a prior definition of “emotion” and what it is like to experience it.
Below are some definitions of “emotion” by authors involved in the topic:
According to (1995) emotions are impulses for action. Indeed, according to Sigmund Freud (1901) emotion contains two different elements: on the one hand, discharges of physical energy; on the other hand, feelings (perceptions of the motor actions that occur and feelings of pleasure or displeasure that give emotions their essential characteristics). When the instinctive energy that resides in the subconscious is high, there is a need to download it until it reaches a normal level. If the discharge does not occur through the appropriate channels (sexual behavior), then the safety valves are used, that is, the emotions.
The unilateral concentration of energy hinders the free flow of ideas until a discharge of excitement occurs through motor actions. But if the discharge of excitation is not carried out, then abnormal reactions occur, one of which is conversion.
Explained in a simpler way, Goleman opens the way to the representation of the physical or motor implications of emotions (carrying out a certain action). Alluding to Freud opens up the situation for us as to how by not carrying out this certain action of the emotions the body is affected with physical illnesses (the conversion). For example, some of the symptoms of conversion may be the following:
- Blindness.
- Deafness.
- Inability to speak.
- Localized paralysis.
- Emiparesis.
- Allergies.
- Rashes.
- Tremors.
- Paresthesia.
- Localized pains.
It’s surprising how an emotion that has not been able to be discharged Through its natural pathway and at the appropriate time, it can transform into an emotional illness (for example, a mental disorder such as depressive disorder, anxiety disorder, or stress factor disorder).
After the emotional illness ends up having serious repercussions on the body, as explained by psychologist Robert Ader (1990) in his research on psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), he states that there is an overactivation of the immune, neuroendocrine and nervous systems due to the chronicity of an emotion. For example, stress is related to the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HHS) axis, which, although the activation of this axis represents a normal bodily response to stress, aimed at maintaining the stability known as homeostasis; long-term sustained activation can have dangerous effects, increasing the risk of some physical diseasesespecially those caused by an imbalance of cortisol and the thyroid.
In the face of major economic problems, divorces, social problems or daily stressors such as family overload, we can feel anguish, anxiety and/or sadness. Our body reacts and the stress response which in the long run can cause alterations in our and bad habits such as alteration of sleep schedules or consuming some type of substance that also harms our health. However, it is not the stressful events themselves that cause us problems, but the assessment and coping we make of them. Not all people perceive what happens to them in the same way.
Understanding our own emotions and their psychological and physiological implications allows us to be able to listen to ourselves and express ourselves without amplifying or devaluing everything we feel. Self-knowledge and giving ourselves the space to attend to our emotions They would serve as a preventive method for many diseases.