Why do some patients go into illness denial? How can doctors convince psychosomatic patients that they have a real medical condition?
One major challenge in treating mindbody disorders is getting the patient to accept their diagnosis. This is because, like many doctors, patients usually believe that pain must be the result of a problem with the body.
Here’s how to help patients accept a psychosomatic disorder diagnosis.
When Patients Don’t Believe Their Diagnosis
Not only does rejecting psychosomatic disorders seem logical—how could someone be in pain if nothing is physically wrong?—that lesson gets constantly reinforced by the world at large. For instance, many people spend their lives treating headaches with painkillers, minor injuries with rest and ice, and so on. As a result, they learn from a young age to treat only physical causes of pain, and are never taught that their minds can produce similar symptoms.
Overcoming that programming so the patient can recover from a psychosomatic disorder is difficult, often impossible. Hoffman says that many people reject the idea that pain can exist without a physiological cause, and therefore they never repair the connection between their mind and their body.
| Change Your Beliefs Through Questioning In Awaken the Giant Within, Tony Robbins writes that you can start to change your beliefs by asking yourself clear, specific questions and then answering them.Robbins says you should start by choosing one specific belief to examine. So, if you’re the type of patient we discussed above, you believe pain must have a physiological cause. With that in mind, begin asking yourself questions about that belief, such as: Where did I learn this belief? Who or what taught you that pain must come from the body, and never from the mind? Is that a reliable source for medical information? Do I know anything that conflicts with this belief? Have you heard stories about people suffering from pain with no medical cause? Do you have any knowledge of biology or psychology that suggests it is possible for the mind alone to cause physical pain? Why am I holding on to this belief? Why is this idea (pain must have a physiological cause) important to you? What would it cost you mentally or emotionally to let go of that idea? If it turns out to be incorrect, how much would letting go of that belief benefit you? If it turns out to be right after all, how much would letting go of that belief harm you? It’s a difficult and often uncomfortable process, but by asking questions like these and answering them honestly, you can start to deconstruct your harmful and unwanted beliefs. In this case, breaking down your belief that your pain can’t be psychosomatic would allow you to start recovering from it. |
