Specyficzny objaw (psycho)somatyczny jako sygnał restymulacji traumy - perspektywa psychoterapeutyczna

Abstract

One of the causes of a sudden appearance of a specific somatic symptom can be trauma experienced years ago. During it, an individual can initiate a series of unconscious defensive mechanisms serving an emotional management, which can lead to a dissociative reaction which provides a relative posttraumatic adaptation. Current important life events, unconsciously (strongly) associated with trauma from the past can lead to its restimulation, which can be observed only in the form of a medically unexplained somatic complaint. When it happens, we often search for psychological causes and recommend psychotherapy. The publication discusses the very mechanism in the temporal context and supports it with two case studies from the author’s psychotherapeutic practice (psychotherapy of a male patient suffering from a psychogeneous runny nose and a female one with psychogeneous stammer). In both cases a therapeutic going through trauma (which in the former case was disappearance and in the latter sexual violence experienced years ago) led to a permanent disappearance of psychosomatic symptoms.