The title might appear to be a cheap polemic, something like "it's all in your mind", but no, what I am getting at is the psychosomatic in all ailments, and indeed in good health - there's nothing polemical about "healthy body - healthy mind". It's only when we are talking about illness that people get creepy about 'the psychosomatic'.
Let's leave aside - for the moment - such thorny ailments as schizophrenia or anorexia or chronic fatigue syndrome. What I really mean is that any dis-ease in the body makes it 'less easy' to be oneself. This reduction of ease is primarily felt in the mind, and in the consciousness of the sufferer.
Our problem is that the western (dominant) tradition has seen mind and body as two separate entities. On one side we might have something like hysteria (calm down, woman! get a grip!) or obsessive compulsive disorder (which includes exactly five s's) and on the other side we might have something like a broken wrist, a toothache or an eye infection.
But mind vs. body is a false distinction: If you have ever had such an entirely mechanical trauma as a broken bone, you will certainly be painfully aware how much it affects your whole outlook, the very conditions of your existence. Can you climb the stairs? Can you get the lids off jars? Can you read the newspaper? Can you wash your armpits? Can you brush your teeth? The facility of these 'simple' everyday tasks contribute to a sense of self and normality, a sense that things are as they should be, and you have your place in the world. If such activities become difficult or impossible because of physical illness, the effect on the mind and the mood can be extreme.
In truth, the crest of the wave of western mainstream medicine has given up the idea of a division of between mind and body, but most 'sober' individuals (including most practising doctors) still see 'psyche' and 'soma' as two separate fields. Some of these people are professional psychiatrists, others work in fields such as nutrition, physical fitness, child care, or even education. You have been warned.
A couple of months ago, I proof-read an essay written in English by a Danish friend who is a nurse. It was all about Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease ("COLD"). What could be more mechanical? My friend has been nursing COLD patients for some time, and the most significant point, for me, was the way she describes that the disorder affects the mood and outlook of the patient. These patients need continuous aerobic exercise, but the patient learns to dread climbing stairs, or going shopping, or indeed any activity which might strain the heart-lung system. Consequently, the patient becomes removed from society and family. This is a striking and sad example of the way 'soma' affects 'psyche' and vice versa in a vicious circle.
I am just recovering from a fairly aggressive viral eye infection. When the first symptoms appeared, all the eye doctors were on Christmas holiday, and the only medication I had - from a general practitioner - was antibiotic eye drops. Everybody should know (or else, please learn now) that antibiotics are completely unsuitable and useless for treating viruses. At the peak of my illness, my left eye was so swollen that I could barely open it, and my right eye - half open - was extremely sensitive to bright lights. I became a cyclops in the darkness.
Some years ago, soon after it was established that my daughter had cerebral palsy, which affected her eyesight, we spent a week on a course at Refsnæsskolen - a school for blind and partially-sighted children on the west coast of Zealand. One of the exercises was to put on special 'partial sight' goggles, and walk around the school grounds with an assistant. These goggles did not obscure the vision entirely, rather, they allowed a little light in through one eye. The ability to 'picture' was lost, but there were some light cues from the environment to indicate space in the most coarse manner, and of course the other senses leapt into action as primary sources of information.
Last week, as I wandered around the local supermarket in my dark glasses, knocking things off shelves and bumping into my fellow shoppers, I remembered that exercise. How tiny my world had become! I imagine I don't have a reputation for being particularly 'awake', but normally, my gaze darts about all over the place. I admit, I am mostly on the lookout for 'interesting' female legs - it's part of what I am - but with my temporary 'handicap' I found myself peering at price tags at close range, struggling to read the ingredients to find out if product X contained Y, or evaluating how much money was to be 'saved' if I bought two instead of one. Everyday tasks.
Using a computer was another bizarre experience. I had to turn the screen brightness down to minimum, and the text size right up to 'ageing-elephant' setting. Normally I have excellent short-distance vision, and look forward to even higher resolution monitors, but with one eye out of action, and the other one barely functioning, I felt like I was on the internet 'through a keyhole'. After five minutes of PC activity, I had to rest. I suddenly became very aware of the narrow, treacherous bridges negotiated by internet users with all kinds of handicaps. (I have chatted with several 'well-functioning' adults online who have cerebral palsy, for example). And we kid ourselves. We assume that 'normal' body functions are to be taken for granted, but hey! We all get old. We all have accidents, and there are viruses and bacteria out there which would just love to stir exquisite passions in you, personally. Many people have a big keyhole to look through - a keyhole which is so big, it is invisible, but ultimately the keyhole is all we have.
Well, all those radio shows I downloaded from demonoid suddenly became very handy, even if I suspect I must have slept through several of them. Sleep, vision, rest. Simple 'mechanical' functions of 'soma', which, when disrupted, make a huge impact on the 'psyche'. When we talk about the 'psychosomatic', we should be very aware that all health (good or ill) is psychosomatic - that there is not illness without mental distress, and no health without some kind of holistic wellness.
