What is psychosomatic disorder?

Answer 1

Psychosomatic response is the reaction of the mind that creates a physical condition change just from the belief that something has actually happened. In medicine, it's known as the placebo effect.

One example I can recall is a group of people given what the believed to be vodka. However, it had been denatured and so there was no alcohol in it, though it still tasted like vodka.

They partied their butts off like they had actually been drinking vodka, just from believing they had drank real alcohol. There was nothing to make them believe there was anything wrong with it, so their minds BELIEVED they were drunk, and so they acted accordingly.

The other group was given alcohol but the flavor was neutralized, so they thought they were drinking punch/soda. They were actually drinking booze. It affected them, but mostly they just felt kinda sick and dizzy. They did not laugh and sing and party like the other group, they just felt weird.

If you blindfold someone and tell them you are rubbing poison ivy on them, then rub a non-poisonous leaf on them, a certain percentage of people will actually erupt into an allergic response, just as if they had been rubbed down with the poison ivy.

Not everyone is susceptible to the psychosomatic response, and there are varying degrees depending on the person. The mind is essentially jump-starting a reaction in preparation to deal with the stimulus.

Look up the placebo effect, psychic surgery, hypnosis, or the 'power of suggestion' to learn more.

Answer 2

It is possible for people to develop a physical illness purely as a result of their belief that they are sick, rather than as a result of any actual physical injury, infection, nutritional deficiency, allergy, etc. People have the capacity to make themselves ill by means of their own thoughts, and also can make themselves well, in some cases, by their own thoughts, which is known as the placebo effect (people who think that they have been given an effective medical treatment will often improve in health even if the treatment they have been given is actually a sugar pill, known as a placebo).

Answer 3

"Caused or aggravated by a mental factor such as internal conflict or stress."

From Babylon, a computer Dictionary program, more exactly from Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

Answer 4

it is a disease caused by the flu.