The Role of the Mind in Autoimmune Diseases

The Role of the Mind in Autoimmune Diseases

Aristotle said that in mind there is nothing that has not already been in the senses. The point is to manage materiality in accordance with emotion. Let's explore this topic Autoimmune Diseases continue to be a mystery to science. For now, their symptoms and their development are known, but the cause is unknown. Furthermore, most of these diseases can be treated, but there is no cure. There are several hypotheses on the subject, but none of them has been 100% verified. What is known with certainty, however, is that the mind plays an important role when dealing with these pathologies.

There are quite common autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. Others, however, are less common, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, chronic autoimmune thyroiditis or Guillain-BarrĂŠ syndrome. The most puzzling feature of autoimmune diseases is that they are the result of an attack of the body against itself. The organism behaves as if its antigens were invading viruses and, therefore, attacks them. In other words, it is a malfunction of the system that recognizes what is proper to the organism and what is foreign to it. This happens in people who are perfectly healthy, and the medicine still cannot explain why.

The mind and autoimmune diseases: what happens in the person?

The mechanism of autoimmune diseases could be explained, in a very simplistic way, as a struggle of the body against itself, like triggering a time bomb against one's own person.

Obviously, there is no conscious will, and it is also true that we do not yet know exactly the physiological mechanism that leads to that direction, nor the procedure that leads to a controllable or degenerative state. In summary, it is as if the antigens became invading viruses. If we think of the body as a system, or

rather of the whole body-mind, it is as if the system went haywire; it does not recognize what is proper to the organism and what is foreign to it.

Autoimmune disease, the mind, emotions In many cases, the unleashing of an autoimmune disease is reduced to a fundamental inability to verbalize one's emotions. Upstream, there is also the inability to recognize them, call them by their own name, and see them as such. In many cases, the autoimmune disease is explained as a defense. What do you defend yourself from? From what is called emotional disintegration.

When an emotional conflict cannot be resolved, the mind goes into alarm and a consequent defense.

This creates stress that goes well beyond the threshold that can be managed healthily and functionally.

The approach to the disease cannot be that of a mere reduction of the symptomatic component. We need a total revision of emotional management, an opening towards the new, and a concrete psychological support.

Autoimmune diseases and psychosomatic mechanisms According to science, autoimmune diseases are the result of multiple factors and among these genetics play an important role. Nevertheless, until now there is no clear evidence to prove this theory. It has instead been shown that the mind has a decisive role in these pathologies, above all with regard to the subjective experience lived because of them.

Nowadays, autoimmune diseases are considered by most psychosomatic illnesses professionals. This means that these are pathologies that arise in mind and manifest themselves through the body. There are different points of view on this. Some argue that this is a fundamental inability to verbalize one's emotions. Others, however, suggest that this is a defensive response to emotional disintegration. They are also treated as "body delusions", the precedent of which is Depression, or as a response to an unsolvable conflict.

Regardless of the vision, one wants to adopt, what is certain is that the common point of all these pathologies shows that in people's minds there are realities that find a way of manifesting themselves through physical illnesses.

Affections and autoimmune diseases Autoimmune diseases set in motion a mechanism of self-destruction. It is the body itself that stops recognizing the antigens that belong to it and starts to self-attach as if what it has inside is a threat or a danger.

The mind is so important in this process that a new discipline is born that deals with treating these diseases, known as psychoneuroimmunology. This means that autoimmune diseases are not only often chronic, but are also disabling to the patient and can even lead to death.

Studies conducted so far suggest that those suffering from these diseases usually. It also has high levels of depression, although it is not always obvious. In other words, it can very well be a carefree person and full of life, but inside it brings a great dissatisfaction that, often, not even she knows she has.

Another common feature of autoimmune diseases is a certain inability to recognize emotions. It may be due to a strategy through which to deal with different situations in a too intellectual or rational way or it may be a person who wants to have everything under control and who sees the affections as a threat against their own autonomy.

Towards a solution Autoimmune diseases are insidious and greatly damage the patient's quality of life. They are painful and difficult to accept and are not accompanied by much hope. The worst thing is that sufferers go to their doctor looking for answers, but usually they only receive silences and treatments to reduce their symptoms are not always effective.

Although it is often called into question, the Western world has imposed the idea that the mind and the body are two disconnected and sometimes even opposing realities. However, it is increasingly clear that health and well-being are complementary concepts, where both the physical and mental levels are so important.

The solution for a patient suffering from an autoimmune disease is to stop believing that a "miraculous" pill, vitamin or doctor will succeed in putting him back to health. It certainly does not mean that we should not resort to these solutions, but simply that in the basic treatment there must also be the intervention of a mental health expert.

All pathologies involve emotional and mental components, but in autoimmune diseases, this last factor is completely decisive. The desire to oppose treating the disease as a problem related also to the psyche is certainly one of the reasons why these patients do not find relief from their physical suffering.

A resistance born of the mistaken idea that those who suffer from a disease with a mental base are not strong enough; all supported by an even more wrong idea: pain is an invention of the patient. If you want to know more about autoimmune diseases and their pathologies, you should check out the documentary series by Jonathan Otto, a research journalist known for his humanitarian works worldwide.