Mental and physical diseases in children and adults / Children's psychosomatic disorders

 It is common to assume that psychological and social factors play a role in and in the course of physical illness and that it also plays a role in complaining about physical problems.

The question of the relationship between mental and physical illnesses, or the body and the soul, has been a source of interest for scientists and philosophers alike, since ancient times. 

And because it was followed in the past to describe some diseases as physical/psychological diseases, the prevailing today is the assumption that the field of medicine as a whole is essentially psychological, as there are psychological components, to varying degrees, in different cases and diseases. 

This assertive opinion is correct, starting with malformations and congenital disorders and ending with mental illnesses and physical diseases with behavioral/psychological features mainly (for example Tourette Syndrome).

This view embodies the "withdrawal" of Western medicine to Chinese medicine, which sees the body and soul as one and indivisible unit.

This relationship between physical illness and the soul is related to the factors (etiology) that cause physical diseases, as well as their course (paths of development) as well. 

For example, the course of a physical illness in a boy is clearly related to the psychological state of his family. 

This psychological state affects the ability of the developing boy to resist any physical illness. 

The emotional state of the family affects the extent of his acceptance of the disease, the extent of his response to treatment (medical, pharmacological, and psychological), and the extent of his future disability. 

In addition, physical illness has a decisive impact on the child's psychological and emotional life and on his psychological development.

Defining a disease or person as suffering from psychosomatic diseases has undergone several transformations. 

The meaning that was accepted in the past: a disease caused by emotional factors. 

Some diseases have received special attention, including peptic ulcers, hypertension, asthma, atopic dermatitis, hyperthyroidism, and others. 

Today, however, the ability of psychological factors alone to cause physical and structural disease is questioned.

 However, it is widely assumed that the psychological state can influence, significantly and seriously, the course of physical illness. 

And the opposite is also true. 

There are diseases with signs and symptoms that include both physical and psychological components.

For example, depression is one of the signs of pancreatic carcinoma.

The term "Psychosomatic", in the general sense of the word, refers to the need to understand the impact of social and psychological complexes on the susceptibility of so-and-so to a particular disease, on the emergence of the disease and its course of development. 

-In this context, the physical examination attempts to answer the following questions: 

--Why does so-and-so get sick with this disease or something else? 

-Why did it happen at a specific stage, and not at another, in his life?

-Why did the severity of the disease worsen in a specific period of time and why did the patient contract the disease in this specific way and not others?

Clearly, there are many other issues associated with this.

Most researchers distinguish between two groups of diseases diagnosed according to physical pathology and the ease with which symptoms are expressed psychologically. 

On the one hand, paralysis of one limb can occur that cannot be explained according to the innervation pathways, and symbolically expresses psychological distress. 

On the other hand, there may be a disease, such as a peptic ulcer, that has a deep physical significance and has many causes for its emergence.

 However, there may also be an important psychological factor that can exacerbate the disease and make it worse (the occurrence of bleeding, for example).

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM IV classifies all disorders characterized by the appearance of physical symptoms that cannot be explained by the general state of health, like mental disorders, which are a direct result of ingestion of psychoactive substances. Psychoactive drugs, or any other mental disorder (such as panic disorder).

These symptoms are neither voluntary nor intentional, and they cause distress in the central areas of functioning.

Treatment of mental and physical diseases in children and adults

Treatment of different types of mental disorders - apart from direct treatment of physical disorder - includes different treatment approaches and methods: 

Psychotherapy, Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive therapy, Family therapy, and Psychotropic therapy (Psychopharmacology therapy).