Questions About Psychosomatic Disorders?
Hi everyone,
One emerging area of health science I’m very excited about — because it has tremendously helped me — is psychosomatic or mind-body medicine. This pertains to the realm of disorders where no clear physiological cause can be found (like chronic back pain, digestive issues, chest pain, migraines, tendonitis, etc).
I’ve suffered from a host of chronic pain issues and Alan Gordon and Yoni Ashar’s work on this called “pain-reprocessing therapy (PRT)” has changed my life. I spent years suffering from chest pain, digestive issues, migraines etc, thinking the cause was physical but it was indeed psychological (nervous system dysregulation).
I’m having leading psychosomatic researcher Yoni Ashar on the podcast this Friday to discuss the science and treatment of psychosomatic disorders.
Do you have any questions for him?
His bio:
My current focus is on psychological treatments for chronic pain. Other research areas include brain mechanisms of placebo effects, meditation, and empathy, using functional MRI and machine learning. My research seeks to understand how our thoughts and behaviors influence our health and to create neuroimaging research products with clinical applications.
Leave it in the comments below!
I’m opening this up for everyone as I know a lot of people are struggling with such issues who want more clarity and understanding of psychosomatic conditions.
In the mean-time, here are a couple of videos on how to do “somatic tracking” - a key exercise in pain-reprocessing therapy:
I started migraines about 45 yo. Years later, I altered diet (almost total elimination of starches) and added a lot of salt+water... migraines all but gone. Gut issue: got e-hist and CC/MC diagnosis at same time the problem arose, and now, the CC/MC problem reacts with certain foods that never caused problems before. Strain/sprained back later, most likely due to loss of minerals and other nutrients due to the CC/MC problem that finally seemed to resolve after 4 years with diet experimentation. Not in "my head"
Pain always comes from somewhere for some reason. I have learned that most of it is due to something the body lacks. I am my best test subject through the years which have brought me better physical health, mental stability and confidence that with enough study and research, I can find the best solution to most of my health and well-being issues.