You might be sweating or having a headache right before an exam/presentation, but as soon as the exam/presentation is done, the headache goes away, your body cools down and you feel better! Have you ever observed this?
As a student, exams are an unavoidable part of our lives. Whenever exams came up, I used to get colds, headaches and backaches. I observed this pattern across two years. What do you think was the reason? I tried reading up and found out that stress and anxiety does contribute to these physical issues (Hassan et.al, 2020). Lessening my stress and anxiety during exams contributed to less cold, headache and backache.
Stress is the body’s reaction when something more is demanded than what we have (Example - Writing the exam feels stressful as we are pressurising to use all the resources and demanding more from our brain to think and write the answers before the time is up)(APA Dictionary). Anxiety is considered a future-oriented, long-acting response by the body (Example - Being tense about the presentation, thoughts such as ‘I will fail’, ‘the class would make fun of me’) (APA dictionary). If a lemonade is made with bad quality lemons, it would taste bad. We can add sugar, which might make the lemonade taste better, but it is important to understand that the bad taste is because of the bad quality of lemons and not less sugar.
Similarly, it is important to understand that psychological concerns are contributing to bad physical health. Working on the right cause of the physical issue, would help us stay healthy and work more efficiently as an individual. The medications help lessen the pain/uneasiness of physical symptoms but working on the psychological aspects would prevent physical symptoms. In order to use preventive strategies, we shall learn to observe our body and understand the physical symptoms of psychological concerns.
In a student life, anxiety and stress are the most prominent psychological concerns according to research (Sarkar et. al, 2017). Some of the physical manifestations of anxiety and stress have been listed in the image given below (Amanda, 2020).
Some of the other physical manifestations of anxiety and stress are muscle aches, hot flashes, vomiting sensation, dry mouth, dizziness, trembling and disturbance in sleep cycle. It is very empowering to know that working efficiently on psychological concerns with mental health professionals can actually treat physical uneasiness. Another interesting concept that research talks about is that our immune system is affected by negative emotions (Kiecolt-Glaser, 2002). Common cold is a physical manifestation of stress. In times of stress, the body’s immune system is weakened and the body’s capability to fight back infection lowers down. The Vagus nerve connects our mind and body. Vagus nerve regulates the immune response of the body (Breit, 2018). Psychological concerns such as anxiety contribute to dysfunction of this nerve, which lowers our resiliency and ultimately makes us prone to diseases. Regulation of this nerve helps us regulate anxiety and maintain a sound body and mind. For a detailed understanding and strategies to regulate vagus nerve, watch the video link provided below.
There is a field of study known as ‘psychoneuroimmunology’ which throws light upon the influence of psychological factors on immune function (Kiecolt-Glaser, 2002). This emphasises the need to pay attention to psychological concerns and work on it before it manifests as a physical concern. Concentrating on physical complaints would heal us physically but working on our psychological concerns through flexible thinking patterns, learning relaxation strategies and identifying and managing triggers would contribute to both physical and mental well-being.
Note - It is important to understand whether physical issues are stemming from psychological concerns or not (by observing). We should not ignore any persistent or distressing signs and symptoms, physical or otherwise.
The information provided in this blog post is based on research papers. If you are interested in knowing more, some links have been attached for you to read.
Kindly fill the feedback form for this blogpost here.
The writeup clearly says that taking a pill alone cant work to get recovery from physical uncomfort. Correlation between physical and psychological concepts are explained in simple way.
Nice explanation
Very nice explanation with videos.