The mind and body are closely inter-related with each having an effect on the other. A majority of modern day diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, arthritis, acidity, asthma etc. are psychosomatic where origin of the physical illness is in the mind. It is seen that treatment is usually aimed at alleviation of the physical manifestations but the root cause of emotional disturbance remains unattended. Often when medication is given, a syndrome shift occurs i.e. the illness reappears in a different form e.g. if high blood pressure is controlled with medicine, the emotional disturbance now manifests as diabetes, asthma, arthritis or ulcer. The treatment of psychosomatic disease should therefore compulsorily be complemented with psychotherapy to remove the root cause of emotional disturbance.
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Similarly, mental symptoms can be produced by a physical cause which is the alteration in biochemical neurotransmitters in the brain. Due to lack of awareness, this disease often goes undiagnosed and untreated even by doctors. The illness may present only with vague physical symptoms like pain or indigestion which prove refractory to all types of treatment where all investigations also turn out to be normal. Suicidal tendency is a dangerous symptom that can cause unaffordable loss. At our centre all cases would be screened for such illness and appropriate medication initiated where necessary.
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Dr Rakhee Thakar speaks about Psychotherapy