From the broken heart to the lump in the throat: let each part of the body ‘cheat’ you on your mental health

  • The psychiatrist Rosa Molina explains in a book the close relationship between physical condition and state of mind. Listening to the body and taking care of it is the key to preventing mental health problems

The wave of mood disorders that is causing the pandemic – it is widespread, extensive and without cycles, not like that of viral infections – is having the positive reverse of putting the focus on mental health, a traditionally stigmatized terrain where ailments they usually suffer in private, when not in secret.

In recent months we have heard politicians citing brands of anxiolytics in the gallery of the Congress of Deputies, the Government has announced extra budget allocations for psychiatric treatments, and several well-known faces have dared to publicly confess that they suffer or have suffered anxiety, depression and psychotic breakouts. It seems that, at last, we have started to worry about how we feel and not just about what we do.

Psychiatric care

The emergence of mental health on the public agenda is causing a unusual attention to psychiatry, But it is also highlighting some of his worst vices. One of the most common is to consider the brain the absolute owner of the secrets of mental well-being. However, the reality of our psychic experience is quite different.

“We feel emotions in the body before we feel in the brain. Often, mental disorders are expressed previously in the form of physical ailments & rdquor ;, warns the psychiatrist Rosa Molina, doctor at the San Carlos Hospital in Madrid and author of the trial ‘A mind with a lot of body’ (Paidós), where he draws attention to the importance of the body it has in mental experience, which is greater than we usually suspect.

Cerebrocentrism

The fascination generated by the most unknown organ of the body has caused a “Excessive cerebrocentrism & rdquor ;, in the words of the psychiatrist, who has ended up distorting the perception we have of our true physical and mental reality. In recent decades, a varied menu of sciences and disciplines has emerged that carry the prefixes ‘neuro’ and ‘psycho’ as a seal of guarantee and contemporary life itself has become more mental than ever. “We interact with screens and machines, work is becoming more automated and less physical, all our cognitive activity is gradually being reduced to the brain,” describes Molina.

“We feel emotions in the body before we feel in the brain. Often, mental disorders are previously expressed in the form of physical ailments & rdquor ;, warns psychiatrist Rosa Molina

The great victim of this process is being the body, designated by the psychiatrist as “the great forgotten of mental health prevention strategies & rdquor ;. And it’s not because popular culture doesn’t remind us of its importance. Since the time of Rome we know that there is no ‘healthy mens’ without ‘healthy body’ and even common speech is populated with expressions that underline the close connection between the physical and the psyche, such as ‘butterflies in the stomach’ what do lovers say or feel ‘lump in the throat’ claimed by those who are overwhelmed by an emotion.

These references, according to Dr. Molina, are not whimsical, but rather reflect the true nature of our human condition. “The body is the main stage of emotions. In the viscera we have mental information recorded at the unconscious level that conditions many of the decisions we make every day & rdquor ;, points out the specialist.

Stress charts

The clearest example of the close relationship between the body and the mind are stress pictures, the most common mental disorder in our days. “It is striking that something cognitive, such as worry or the rush to anticipate a dangerous situation, is transformed in a matter of seconds into a physical reaction. Suddenly, our body triggers the production of cortisol, the stress hormone, which causes hives, headaches, gastrointestinal complaints, hair loss & mldr; & rdquor ;, describes the doctor.

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But the body is not just the canary in the mine of a multitude of psychological problems. It can also be the best treatment to cure them, as evidenced by the mechanisms used to contain anxiety attacks. “When a patient comes to us with a panic attack, the first thing we ask him to do is take slow, deep diaphragmatic breaths. With this simple trick we send the message to the brain: ‘don’t mess with me and don’t rush, I’m very relaxed’. That is to say: we use the body to cause a psychological effect & rdquor ;, explains the specialist.

No one doubts the therapeutic power of physical exercise and relaxation techniques such as yoga or ‘mindfulness’. The psychiatrist Rosa Molina encourages frequenting these resources that make us feel better, but her recommendation goes further: “Let’s take care of our bodies, because they often warn us of mental problems before they show up & rdquor ;. Your query is witness to the psychological marks who is leaving the pandemic, but believes that monitoring mental health is easier than we think. “We will not lower this curve only with anxiolytics. The body gives us the best tool we have to prevent so much emotional pain & rdquor ;, he acknowledges.

Reference-www.elperiodico.com

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