“Professional medical professionals” may have emotional problems

Author: Zhao Jialing Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences (Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital)

Reviewer: Zhao Haiyan, deputy chief physician, Peking University Third Hospital

Some people, especially middle-aged and elderly women, always feel uncomfortable, dizzy, have headaches, and numb scalps. They worry that their cerebral blood vessels are blocked. They have done many tests, and the doctors said there is no problem. But they feel that their symptoms are getting worse and worse, and gradually they experience palpitations, chest tightness, abdominal distension, leg soreness, and legs that feel heavy as if they were filled with lead. They suspect that they are seriously ill and run to the hospital every day. These people are either in the hospital or on the way to the hospital. They know the locations of major hospitals better than doctors. Between hope and despair, they are tortured by illness. Some people wonder: "Are they pretending to be sick?" The answer is no. They actually suffer from somatic symptom disorder.

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1. Recognize physical symptom disorder, how to judge is the key

Somatic symptom disorder is a disease in which an individual has one or more physical discomforts and is overly concerned about his or her own discomfort or health, causing obvious physical and mental pain. It is also a common disease in psychiatry. Such patients can often be seen in every department of major hospitals. The physical discomforts of such patients are as follows.

1) Nervous system: dizziness, headache, tingling scalp, tingling hands and feet, and general weakness, etc.

2) Cardiovascular system: palpitations, chest tightness, chest pain and unstable blood pressure, etc.

3) Digestive system: abdominal pain, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and repeated hiccups, etc.

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4) Respiratory system: foreign body sensation, burning sensation, obstruction and shortness of breath in the throat, etc.

5) Pain in multiple parts of the body: headache, shoulder and neck pain, lower back pain, muscle twitching and stiffness, etc.

6) Autonomic nervous system dysfunction: dry and bitter mouth, alternating hot and cold sensations, hot flashes, sweating, and frequent urination, etc.

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2. Causes of Somatic Symptom Disorder

A large number of negative life events, including excessive work and/or study pressure, emotional and/or career setbacks, family disharmony and lack of love, etc.; having certain anxious traits, such patients are usually impatient and pursue perfection, or hesitant and calculative; unable to express negative emotions, such patients cannot find an outlet for their emotions, and have no way to vent negative emotions normally through language, expression, behavior and movement, so they use the body as a carrier to vent through various physical symptoms such as palpitations, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, bloating, muscle pain and tension. Patients with somatic symptom disorder usually do not notice that there are problems with their emotions, or they know but are unwilling to express them. After psychotherapy and further discussion, doctors will find that there are a large number of negative life events and social and psychological factors around the patients.

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3. Treatment of somatic symptom disorder

1) Drug treatment: Anti-anxiety drugs are mainly used for treatment. Please note that such drugs must be taken under the guidance of a professional doctor and must be used in accordance with the doctor's instructions. Do not increase or decrease the drug or dosage on your own. Such behavior is likely to lead to serious adverse consequences, such as worsening of the condition.

2) Psychotherapy: including individual psychotherapy and group psychotherapy. Psychotherapy can help patients understand their physical symptoms and living conditions, communicate and encourage each other with other patients, learn reasonable ways to vent emotions and relax, and develop good living habits.

3) Self-regulation: Under the guidance of professional doctors, patients can more clearly understand their own diseases, identify and perceive their negative emotions and regulate them. Patients can express their emotions by talking to family and friends, exercising, singing and painting, etc., adjust their living habits and reduce their attention to their physical symptoms. With the increasing social pressure, mental illness is becoming more and more common in clinical practice. If an individual has

If you experience the above symptoms and cannot carry out normal work and study, in addition to repeatedly ruling out physical illness, you also need to pay attention to somatic symptom disorders, seek timely diagnosis and treatment, and rediscover the beauty of life.