OCR Text |
Show Your Doctor Says... ' Prople of Utah. "NERVOUS" AND EMOTIONAL ILLNESS IVspite how mm wo mnv Are m other ways, all of us nf human & Trthi,"i in 'ommon" n; -y 1 tlay Roos by that does "ot l.vmg some situation which ro ouuvs emotional control. Uaunllv when we are n,lu,t we can h ndfe niMH of hMp. without undu" dif-tu-ulty. Oco.asionanv, however an excopUonallv troublesome problem rimos. or several smaller ones hU us at oik-c .,nd we show symptoms of emotional distress. W these p rohlem, i n . the best" aai .ililo to us in view of our per-sonalitv per-sonalitv and previous experience. . a hire has givvn us the response ot tear for the good purpose of n.ertinp us to danger so that we can be prepared to meet it and defend de-fend ourselves from it. In civilized society, however, many of the things we worry about are so intangible in-tangible thai it is difficult to put our finger on them, handle them and stop the fear response We may worry about our iobs. our ability to make friends, our ability to mptjo tewa?Tto IZtutt S S&'-oX o' emotions and an b nctnll T bodv f hirh results in suuctmal damage to the organ, as a ri in "a? 'i1 ocPtic ulccrs Such PronrorfV8 b,St hnmlled by a two llZvnt treatment involving both luiipt .to lessen emotional pressure nLA- fenoraI Physician or by Psychiatric treatment. voT ar many poPle who con-lll con-lll , turn nn emotion into a Physical symptom in a way which involves no organic changes at all. When a person blushes, for instance, in-stance, he converts an emotion of embarrassment or pleasure into a Physical flushing of the skin. Yet Jio matter how many times a day he may blush no organic changes take place tn his skin or circulatory circula-tory system. Probably no group of people is so bewildered over their symptoms ac the group that expresses ex-presses emotional tension by developing devel-oping physica. manifestations which do not resuU in structural damage to the organ. They experience ex-perience acute or persistent pain in some arer of the bodv. After a t.iorough examination, their physician phy-sician tehs them that they are in good nhv ''ca'. health and that there is no organic reascfn for the symptoms. He may add that the illness is functional; that is, that the trouble is ii the way the organ is working not in the organ itself. This may be perplexing to the patient. pa-tient. It is harH for him to believe that what is felt as physical pain may co -e from emotional causes and he fee".- he is being told that ,"f "..11 u:. i in i Kv.v.v, .tiviua ui inarriafre partners, our relationships with oeople who are important to us. or our ability to handle the strong emotions which are seething inside of us. Under emotional stress, some people experience pure fear accompanied accom-panied by a pounding heart, per-spirinjr per-spirinjr hands and a feeling of impending im-pending catastrophe. Some people develop phobic or unrealistic, fears in an attempt to :ontrol their anxiety anx-iety or become a prey to recurrent recur-rent disturbing thoughts which extend ex-tend themselves -q such a degree it io mi in in. neau or tnat nis pain is imaginary. Any time pain is felt it is real and pain induced by emotional tension can be lust as severe as that brought about by organic illness. ill-ness. However, since the cause is different, the treatment is also different. dif-ferent. With persistence of symptoms symp-toms of this type then psychiatric treatment may be the medical treatment of choice. This is the process of reorganizing the emotional emo-tional life so that better ways can be found to meet the stresses and strains of living. |