Psychosomatics and the origin of diseases
by Safih Choat

A brief introduction...

All complementary therapies address the issue of the importance of the emotional aspect of their patients, as a factor that causes imbalance and originates diseases, understanding the living being as a holistic being, where energetic and emotional aspects receive the same importance interconnected with the physiological ones. Including Homeopathy, which is an area of ​​medicine.

​

In Reiki, for example, the energy emanating from a living being is also altered by the patient's "feelings." The same applies to acupuncture, where the "invisible" meridians are altered from their harmony, or even in chromotherapy, floral remedies, music therapy, among many others.

Recently, WSPA Brazil released a documentary that was broadcast on TV Cultura, proving that animals feel pain, fear, pleasure, joy and stress - in addition to having memories and even longing. In other words, they are capable of somatizing their emotions just like us!

Animal sentience and well-being have recently gained relevance on the international scene, including influencing consumer habits and the behavior of society, which seeks to follow international welfare standards and even resorts to alternative production systems. This proof applies to all vertebrate animals: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish.

The understanding of psychosomatics and its interactions with the external environment evolved through Sigmund Freud, who, perplexed when faced with the problem of the relationship between the facts of psychic life and those of organic life, began to study hysteria, referring to the physical symptoms of hysteria as “that mysterious leap from the mind to the body”, where an illness with an essentially psychic cause gives way to various bodily expressions.

​

During his studies, Freud identified several similarities between the human brain structure and that of reptiles, which took him back to Charles Darwin's study on the evolution of species and the discussion of the "superiority" of human beings over other species.

In an intermediate or behaviorist phase characterized by the encouragement of research on animals and humans, psychosomatics sought to frame the findings in the light of the Exact Sciences, and studies on stress were developed.

Although its principles have been contained in medical doctrine since Hippocratic times, only recently, with Engel's contribution on the general theory of systems, bringing the biopsychosocial model to the most recent WHO concept of health as “biopsychosocial balance”, psychosomatics assumed its identity as an investigative approach to the inseparability of mind-body or psychosomatics in the health/disease process and as a practice that demands multidisciplinary interaction because its object of investigation is the sentient being and its complex interactions, demanding several vertices of observation, as is the case with multidisciplinary knowledge.

How does psychosomatics occur in animals?

External information also produces emotion. As a result, there is a greater number of synaptic connections and changes in genes, that is, in shared life experiences. Since animals live in a relationship with humans, their emotions, love and hate, produce internal energy, altering in turn the number of synaptic connections per neuron, the production of specific proteins, according to the type of emotion, and consequently significant responses to the influences of environmental factors.(1)

​

The basis of hormonal release, after these influences, is located in the brain, so brain issues directly interfere with hormone secretion, that is, stress and anxiety influence hormone levels, even though these are synthesized in glands outside the brain .(1) 

​

In rats, for example, as demonstrated by GREENOUGH, BLACK and WALLACE (6), it was observed that those raised in social environments, equivalent to the genuine psychic of the psychoanalytic process, compared with rats raised in isolation, equivalent in man to the psychotherapeutic process of the conscious world, produce an infinitely greater number of synapses per neuron.(1)

​

Nearly 51 studies in laboratories with rhesus monkeys, rats, sea snails, crayfish, etc. by different authors have provided evidence of correlations between the environment, mind, brain and genes, enriching the psychopathological understanding of diseases in the human process.(1)

​

YEH (15) and collaborators identified a neuron in a crayfish and its responses to serotonin. The effect of serotonin on the neuron changes according to the social status of the animal. When two crayfish are together, one becomes dominant. In the dominant crayfish, serotonin stimulates the tail-flick reflex instead of suppressing it. 

​

The distance from crayfish to man is great, but exploring the experience, the authors speculate that a dominant person in relation to another can stimulate the activity of serotonin with effects on the brain.(1)

​

Turbulent and frustrating experiences, for example, lead to greater and persistent sensitivity in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. (1)

​

SUOMI (12) in his laboratory dealing with a colony of monkeys, about 10 years ago, presented significant data on these animals, at a Ciba Foundation Symposium, on a higher social scale. Dealing with monkeys considered "supermothers" and young monkeys or baby monkeys, when separated from their protectors, they revealed changes in behavior, increased cortisol and ACTH, and also appeared to have genetic vulnerability. When bringing the mother monkeys closer to the baby monkeys, these vulnerabilities, much more linked to separation anxiety than to any genetic expression, disappeared. 

​

On the other hand, when training therapy monkeys, they were no more suitable than mother monkeys. (1)

​

Studies of ulcers in monkeys have shown that emotional stress apparently causes ulcers if its timing coincides with some natural rhythm of the gastrointestinal system, in its blocked phase. (2)

​

The experiment involved placing two monkeys in individual "restraint chairs" and attempting to condition them to avoid an electric shock by pressing a lever. Only the "executive" monkey could prevent himself and the other "control" monkey from receiving an electric shock. (2)

​

The "control" monkey faced with a false lever did not show any signs of ulceration, while the "executive" monkey died after a certain period of experimentation. The autopsy revealed large ulcers in the duodenum. This monkey was the only one that was under emotional stress when faced with the lever that could prevent electric shocks. The most efficient rhythm for producing ulceration was 6 hours. Finally, we should point out that a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, was also found, which is also one of the causes of ulcerative perforation.(2)

​

In short, animals become psychosomatic and develop illnesses. These physiological changes can even enhance the effect of other medications, cancel them out or create more. In the case of animals, especially those that are hospitalized, and are under a lot of stress, if we do not consider these psychosomatic variants, we will not be fully treating the whole, that is, the cause , simply the illness, which, after being treated without considering these equally important issues, may reappear in another organ or become more severe.

​

Controversial, reluctant, but real!

DUAL AND REVERSE ACTION OF DRUGS, according to Homeopathy

​

According to veterinarian Dr. Fernanda Valvassoura, the medications prescribed are increasingly “stronger,” and yet the diseases continue to appear. Some professionals use what we call “cannon shots to kill ants,” using 3, 4, 5 different medications, each one covering a specific symptom, because no one admits mistakes, and if the animal does not get better soon, they lose their client. However, treating only the symptoms creates a legion of chronically ill patients, voracious consumers of medications.(3)

​

In Hahenmann's Organon, a fundamental work of homeopathic doctrine, paragraph 59, the dual and inverse action of oppositely acting drugs is described, supported by scientific experiments. He found that the palliative remedies administered provoke two distinct and successive phases of symptoms:(3)

1st. Primary effect (of the drug): is the expected action of the drug. Ex: analgesic or antipyretic action, etc.(3)

​

2nd Secondary effect (of the organism): it is a contrary reaction, opposite to the primary effect of the drug, due to the organism's search for balance, for homeostasis. Thus, when the drug is eliminated from the organism, the patient will again feel the same symptoms, but 3 times stronger, and 3 times longer lasting, because the organism produced depressant effects against the primary action of the drug.(3)

​

Homeopathic medicines indicated for organic disorders act differently from allopathic medicines. The difference lies in the path the body uses to eliminate the symptoms, which in this case are not suppressed, unlike what occurs in the allopathic method of treatment. (3)

​

What homeopathic medicine does is treat by symptomatic similarity, leading to the extinction of the morbid disorder by stimulating the individual's vital force, until equilibrium is achieved. It converts what we call "disease" (due to the disturbance of the vital force) into health, through another disturbance of the vital force, forcing the organism to react, instead of suppressing its reaction.(3)

Psychosomatics and the complexity of Flower Essences

​

According to veterinarian Dr. Eunice Santos Martini Parodi, "Dogs are more susceptible to developing emotional problems because they act like a sponge. In general, needy people love them; they often say that they listen to and understand their problems. They don't just look like they're suffering, they really feel their owner's pain." 

​

According to her, it is common for animals to "share" an illness with their owners, so it is not enough to just treat the pet . "I see a lot of sick people bringing sick animals to my clinic. They want to help their owners and, as a result, they end up feeling unwell and getting sick themselves," says Eunice. 

​

She tells the story of a dog with a serious uterine infection, which is usually resolved through surgical intervention. In agreement with the owner, they decided to try flower remedies, relegating surgery only as a last resort. "I believe that if I removed the uterus, I would simply be moving the problem. We need to solve the cause, otherwise another problem will arise somewhere in the body ," she explains. After much discussion, she discovered that the owner was going through a difficult time at work. So she medicated the animal based on the owner's symptoms. The result: the infectious process completely reversed.

​

According to Eunice, this was the first case of serious injury that she treated with floral essences. Even with the positive result, she prefers to use the therapy in the early stages.

​

Karin Herzig gives the example of a puppy, acquired when the owner was on vacation and had all the time for him. When she returned to work, the animal developed diarrhea, due to difficulty in dealing with loneliness. After a week of using flower remedies, the problems were solved. 

However, when the disorder has an emotional origin, both present the same symptoms. The most common are diarrhea, dermatitis, cystitis, stress, fear, jealousy, depression, loss of fur and appetite, aggression or apathy . 

In general, they are caused by the loss of someone in the family,

​

a change of environment, the absence of the owners, the birth of a child or a new animal in the house.

​

Veterinarian Sandra Padovani, from Santo André (SP), warns that only a qualified professional can make the correct diagnosis and indicate the appropriate treatment. 
She reports the case of a client who decided to give his dog the same flower essence he used, because he believed that the animal's apathy was caused by depression. 
After a week, he took her to the clinic and discovered that the dog was almost dying.(6)

​

This example from veterinarian Sandra also serves as a warning to those clinics that sell generic flower remedies, without the need for a prescription, in pretty and tempting bottles, and which consequently either cause other effects in the animal, or lead to false information that they do not work, since for each case there is a need for a specific compound of combined essences.

​

Conclusions

​

As we have seen, it has been scientifically proven for a long time that animals, just like us humans, have the ability to absorb emotions and alter their entire biological structure.

Psychosomatic Medicine is a way of understanding why people and animals get sick, and the reasons why each one has a different type of disease from the other. The influences that the environment and personality exert on the process of illness are studied (7). 

Complementary therapies include the issue of their influence, and should be practiced by specialized professionals, given the extent of everything involved. Many of them require that the human issue involved be understood, as we saw, for example, in the case of flower remedies cited. In other words, it is not enough to perfect oneself in flower remedies for animals; one must also have knowledge of them for humans, since the two must be treated concomitantly, hence the effectiveness of the treatment of the animal, for example, and each one requires specific knowledge.

​

However, regardless of the specialization that a veterinarian may choose, since the number of courses available on the market is large and attractive, but not always well explored, didactic and in-depth due to everything that is involved, it is necessary to understand mainly how this process of psychosomatization occurs, also to understand what we unconsciously transmit to everyone around us, despite our awareness.

​

A very simple example: You may be performing a standard procedure, but unconsciously you have doubts, you are afraid... The animal, through "indirect means" will capture this information, change its reactions and interfere with the result... This is just an illustration, but the process extends to so many things and so many relationships, not always only causing illnesses, but contradicting our attitudes indirectly and always, interfering with the results...

​

Therefore, there is nothing more illustrative than watching the film whose theme addresses, in a very didactic version, the focus of emotions and their effects on organisms.

On the next page, this film that generated a lot of controversy at the time, whose theme becomes extremely necessary for understanding the importance of emotions, whether animal or human, and which still today guides contributions to the branches of holistic medicine.

 

In the next articles I will discuss in more detail each disease and its psychosomatic aspects.

​

"Know thyself. Two thousand years ago these words were engraved in the temple of Delphi. They are the beginning of wisdom. In them lies the hope of victory over the oldest of Man's enemies: Vanity . This knowledge is now within your reach. Will you use it?"

​

Note: Homeopathy uses infinitesimal doses of highly dynamized medicines to act deeply on the most diverse organic disorders. 

 

The principle of action of medicines is really very interesting. The greater the dynamization, the smaller the number of molecules of the substance that make up a dose of the medicine (from the 12th dynamization onwards there is LESS THAN ONE MOLECULE PER DOSE), and the deeper the action of the medicine.

Obviously, the action of a homeopathic medicine is completely opposite to that of allopathic medicines.

We must remember that the administration of a homeopathic medicine requires (as Hahnemann never tired of warning) a very good preparation of the doctor to perceive the set of symptoms that allow the correct diagnosis of the problem and the exact choice of the appropriate medicine. 

​

Some people, however, will say that they tried homeopathy but that no results were obtained. On the other hand, we have some doctors who, for one reason or another, end up venturing into the field of homeopathy, many of whom, however, do not fully understand the subtle mechanisms of homeopathy and its greater objectives. Consequently, they end up distorting its basic foundations, administering homeopathic remedies with the typical posture and procedure of allopathic doctors.

In a medical consultation, involving, for example, the onset of pneumonia, whether in an animal or a human, the homeopath, in addition to checking the state of the patient's lungs, will also investigate during the consultation about other possible existing problems and about the subject's various peculiarities regarding sleep, thirst, feelings, fears, etc. 
Only after having obtained a global view of the patient will the prescription be prescribed.

Bezerra de Menezes was a homeopathic doctor and became an example to be followed.(4)

​

A doctor does not have the right to finish a meal, nor to choose a time, nor to ask if it is far or near, 
when some distressed person knocks on his door. 

He who does not come because he has visitors, because he has worked hard and is tired, or because it is late at night, the road or the weather is bad, or because he is far away or in the hills, or who, above all, asks for a car from someone who cannot pay for the prescription, or tells someone who is crying at the door to find someone else, is not a doctor, he is a medicine dealer, who works to collect capital and interest on the expenses of the graduation. 

He is an unfortunate man, who sends to someone else the angel of charity who came to visit him and brought him the only stipend that could quench the thirst for wealth of his Spirit, the only one that will never be lost in the ups and downs of life. Bezerra de Menezes(5)

​

 References:

​

(1) www.psicossomatica-sp.org.br
(2) www.coladaweb.com/
(3) www.homeopatia.vet.br/
(4) www.geae.inf.br/
(5) Biography of Bezerra de Menezes - "The doctor of the poor" - Dr. and Politician of RJ - http://projeccoesesonhos.tripod.com/id43.html

 - http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezerra_de_menezes
(6) Drops of tranquility
(7) Ana Regina Torro - veterinarian (CRMV SP 4904)
Specialized in Veterinary Homeopathy and Psychosomatic Medicine in dogs, cats and wild animals