People can identify physical discomfort more rigorously than emotional problems. However, sometimes we feel pain or discomfort that we don't know where it comes from. How is it possible that your back hurts if you haven't carried any weight? Or why do you have nausea and an upset stomach if, a priori, you have not eaten anything bad? On many occasions, the only way for emotions to come to the outside is through these types of symptoms. This is what is known as somatizing.
Emotional health is interrelated with physical health and somatization is the best proof of this. Many of the physical conditions we suffer from have their origin in an emotional problem and somatizing is the way we connect with them. People tend to avoid all unpleasant feelings. However, if we do not express our emotions, they will manifest themselves in the form of muscle tension, changes in the skin and, ultimately, any symptom that alerts the patient that something is not right.
Trying to eliminate a physical discomfort without addressing its origin will be of no use. In other words, ignoring the causes of our discomfort will only make the symptoms worse. What happens inside us is reflected outside, so taking care of our emotional health is taking care of our physical health. That is why we must change the focus and concentrate our efforts on identifying the reason for somatization, as explained in an article from the Somos Estupendas specialized psychology blog.
Sometimes it is not a lack of interest in our emotional health, but rather the frenetic pace of life we lead that makes us disconnect from our emotions. Therefore, it is important to find moments in our daily lives when we can stop and ask ourselves how we feel, what ailments or pains we notice in our body and for how long. Reflecting and trying to find relationships between physical and emotional discomfort is the way we take advantage of somatic symptoms to begin to manage our feelings.
Somatization is the natural process by which emotions are expressed through our body, which is why we get tense when we get angry, for example. It is important to listen to our body and try to amend the situation that gives rise to somatization or, otherwise, it will intensify and end up seriously affecting our physical health. Some somatic symptoms tend to become psychosomatic diseases, chronic conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome or fibromyalgia that, fortunately, we can prevent.
Emotional management tools are a resource with which we can pay attention to what is happening in our body. The sooner we apply them, the more we will avoid a high degree of somatization that is an impediment to developing our daily lives. However, we can request professional help at any time. Currently, somatization problems are addressed from a multidisciplinary perspective and there are specific treatments, such as integrative body therapy, which helps to work on emotional problems on a physical level.
