Thousands of people have unexplained health problems like stomach aches, headaches, extreme tiredness, concentration problems, sore muscles, dizziness, etc. The pain and tiredness that these people feel is very real, but no physical disease can be found to cause it.
You can’t just say that these complaints are psychological only. All people are different. Some people are more sensitive than others and everyone has a different threshold of pain. If you notice pain quickly and you focus on it more, you will maintain the pain or even aggravate it. Besides that the problems depend on how well you know your body. If you do not know when to take a rest, you body will start to give signals. If you are constantly straining yourself, you will just go down and down the vicious circle.
Almost three times as many women as men suffer from unexplained health problems. This could be because women are biologically less resistant than men, but it could also be that the pressure on women is growing and growing. Women have to be great wives and mums, but also need to have a exciting social life and a serious career.
Ignoring the problems is often not a solution. If you do not listen to your body when it is giving signals that you are constantly overburdening yourself, problems might just get worse. However, to keep on visiting different specialists might not solve anything either. If a few tests cannot find a medical reason for your complaints, it is time to look at underlying causes, perhaps a divorce, death of a loved one, overworked, etc. Often a change of lifestyle can do miracles.
Henri Frederic Amiel
It is very important that unexplained health problems are taken seriously. If no medical reason is found for the problem, doctors often feel less worried about it. They are focused on treating the body and ignoring the mind. And psychiatrists are treating the mind, while ignoring the body. It can help when different specialists look at the problem together, for example a psychiatrist and a physiotherapist. But I have found that a holistic approach to your health can be most effective.
If you learn how to live a balanced life, emotionally as well as physically, you might just find that your unexplained health problems will inexplicably disappear. It does mean that you need to be more proactive about your health and start participating actively in your own health care, rather than getting stuck in the vicious circle of being tired and getting less active and being more tired, etc. It is time to start caring for ourselves in a more active way.
