Why does mental pain occur? How to get rid of mental pain? What to do if your soul hurts? Mental illness, what is it? Our specialists will be able to help a person cope with such a situation without causing harm. This deep pain is associated with a disorder of higher nervous activity and it is not treated in conventional ways, which can only dull it or temporarily mask it. This will require both a lot of medical experience and quite a bit of your own life experience. Not all doctors can understand a person’s true experiences if they have not been in such situations themselves. Every person experiences mental pain, but at different times and, unfortunately, not everyone can cope with it on their own.
We know what mental pain is and can help you cope with it, continue to live in a new, more harmonious world of your inner experiences.
If a person feels mental pain for more than 15-20 days or these sensations are repeated with any frequency, then this indicates the formation or presence of a disease of the nervous system and to get rid of mental pain, it is necessary to consult a competent and conscientious psychotherapist.
Brain Clinic specialists will always be able to provide you or your loved ones with the necessary and sufficient medical care to relieve mental pain and restore the nervous system, and restore quality of life.
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What does it represent?
It can be acute, chronic, aching and burning. In general, like the physical one, which also arises as a result of the destruction of the boundaries between the environment and the organism itself.
That is, to experience unpleasant sensations on a physical level, it is enough to crash into a wall, hit your little finger on the corner of a table, or miscalculate your strength when peeling potatoes and get hurt with a knife.
With mental pain, things are almost the same, only the cause is the loss of something significant and familiar.
The injury is not visible at first glance, as is the case with a fracture of, say, a leg, but it is felt at a different level.
This could be the death of a loved one, a pet, a break in a relationship with a friend or someone very close, even a child growing up and realizing that he is going to leave the family nest and live separately.
Also a change of place of residence, work, loss of what always brought pleasure and helped to recover. Treason, lies, injustice, disappointment in others, in one’s own capabilities...
In general, the cause of emotional distress is everything that brings changes to a person’s life. And the more significant that “old” was, the more intense the feelings.
Basically, it depends on this intensity how quickly the soul will recover, and what consequences of the loss will make themselves felt.
Often, experiencing acute pain, especially if you do not give vent to feelings, trying to keep them inside, ends in serious health problems and depression with suicidal tendencies.
Differences from simple pain
The main distinguishing feature is that a person creates psychogenic pain for himself independently and can get rid of it himself.
For example, if he worked all day under stressful conditions, then by the end he may experience severe pain in the joints and muscles. Sometimes headaches may appear.
This process is considered completely natural, since all reactions in the body come from the brain, and the mental state is often disturbed due to other problems.
What else happens?
It happens that mental pain affects existential experiences. A person comes face to face with loneliness and thinks about his place in this world, purpose and, in general, the meaning of existence.
Trying to understand his attitude towards death, in addition to fear and horror of the unknown. All this forces him to look for ways that will help him stop feeling and distract him from obsessive, depressive thoughts.
And then there is a risk of falling into a trap. When, in an attempt to escape from reality, he begins to drink alcohol, drugs, gets involved in gambling, becomes addicted to the computer, and so on.
This helps at first, but at one point it stops working and the discomfort returns again, only this time with the most serious consequences.
And it happens that it becomes chronic, accompanying its owner for a long time. Have you ever bought shoes that are not exactly your size?
And wear it, gradually rubbing your feet until such calluses form that even walking barefoot causes discomfort?
It’s just as possible, for example, to marry a person who is not very good to be around. And periodically one gets hurt by it, endures violence or indifference. Then the soul literally aches, suffering every minute.
By the way, each of us has our own certain limit, so to speak, the threshold of pain tolerance.
It is formed in childhood; if the adults who took care of the child, satisfied his basic needs, were emotionally involved, then he then has somewhere to draw resources from to cope with stress.
Mental weakness occurs when the baby has no support behind his back, which is why, if problems arise, he will suffer, not knowing what to do next.
Reduce your intake of caffeine, sugar, salt, alcohol and tobacco!
We are designed to fight or flee when we encounter life-threatening events or creatures. We create this fight or flight response—many of us on a regular basis—through our thoughts or worries. However, we also create an adrenaline fight-or-flight response when we eat or drink caffeine, sugar, salt or alcohol and when we smoke. Reducing your intake of coffee, tea, chocolate, sugar, etc. can definitely reduce your stress response.
How does it help?
Protection
It’s hard to believe, but mental pain is beneficial; it’s only important to listen to your feelings and understand why it was given to you and what it can teach you.
For example, it performs a protective function. As if warning of possible destruction.
When you accidentally touch a hot pan, you instinctively withdraw your hand without even having time to think about what happened and why. If you linger even for a second, you end up with a burn.
And in a relationship, having heard an insult from a loved one addressed to you, you will move away from him a little - a completely instinctive, natural reaction.
And if you pay attention to her, you can realize that being around him is not so good. And if you choose to stay further, it means dooming yourself to suffering.
Then the experiences become a marker that someday this will end and this particular relationship will be terminated due to the injustice of the aggression shown.
If you choose the other option - to stay, then you will have to endure and resign yourself. An analogy would be to put your hand on a saucepan, which you didn’t want to burn yourself on, and for the sake of higher goals, endure the discomfort, and then treat the blisters.
Awareness
Unfortunately, a person is not always able to appreciate and take care of what he loves. Often he does not even notice how significant something in his life is. Until he loses it.
So, mental pain is like a litmus test by which you can easily determine the importance of some events, people, and so on.
It is also a constant companion of change. People suffer a lot during a crisis, some cannot stand it and commit suicide.
But it is impossible to get something new without getting rid of the old. How to realize your needs without wanting to move.
Let's say, take marriage. You can experience anxiety, sadness, irritation, sadness, disappointment and other unpleasant feelings every second, but of low intensity and remain in it, afraid to take a step towards the unknown.
Or you can decide and terminate it, faced with severe pain, but at least get a chance to be happy with another partner when the emotions subside. This does not mean that the choice should always be made in favor of divorce.
Each situation is individual and requires a specific approach. The point is that crises in our lives are inevitable and, despite the discomfort, they actually give us opportunities to change our lives for the better.
Those who cannot cope with them face a new problem - internal personal conflicts. But you can learn more about them here.
What diseases is it typical for?
According to V. Levy, this type of malaise most often occurs in people who are prone to auto-aggressive behavior and suicide. This condition is usually observed in the following conditions:
- neurosis;
- stress;
- schizophrenia;
- hysterical disorder;
- panic disorder;
- post-traumatic syndrome;
- neurasthenia;
- hypochondria;
Cardialgia is another disease characterized by pain of this type.
The main characteristics of psychalgia include:
- the pain syndrome does not have an exact location;
- discomfort spreads to the back, heart, stomach and head;
- vague pain sensations that do not have a specific character;
- discomfort does not go away even after taking medications;
- Along with pain, the patient often feels spiritual emptiness and indifference.
Basic ways to avoid
It is not surprising that people strive to forget themselves and look for ways to cope with mental torment.
But it often happens that in defending themselves from unpleasant feelings, they deprive themselves of the opportunity to breathe deeply, feeling joy and carelessness, lightness.
The psyche uses completely unconstructive methods of getting rid of anxiety. They are called psychological defense mechanisms. They were invented by nature to bring us good and keep us healthy.
Only sometimes it turns out that by going too far with this defense, we end up with even more suffering and difficulties.
Mechanisms
Avoidance and devaluation are the most common. You will learn about what other psychological defense mechanisms exist from the article devoted directly to this topic.
Now let's look at those that help relieve suffering.
- Depreciation. To make it not so bad, it’s easier to take it and decide that in fact the person you had to part with, the job you were fired from, and so on wasn’t really needed.
- Avoidance. Having gotten out of a destructive relationship, it’s easier to consider all women, say, stupid, materialistic, and stop letting them get close. Or, realizing how much worry and anxiety the birth of a child will bring, abandon this idea and join the childfree movement. By the way, animals that have been abused usually react this way. They are afraid to approach a person in the future, even if he extends his hand to stroke them. That is, they are ready to give up pleasure, just to avoid getting into a situation that happened in the past and brought trauma.
- Transfer or projection. A person, as if not recognizing the presence of pain in himself, projects it onto other people and animals. Why does he feel for them what he would like to receive? For example, he develops vigorous activity, trying to help someone and ignoring his own fatigue and limited resources. He feels sorry for everyone around him, forgetting to take time for himself.
List of psychotherapists in St. Petersburg
If you have persistent pain, it is recommended to contact the following specialists from St. Petersburg:
- Bragar Maria Alexandrovna. Work experience 15 years. The cost of admission is 3,000 rubles.
- Verzhenskaya Yanina Yurievna. Work experience 28 years. The cost of admission is 3,000 rubles.
- Chuban Olga Ivanovna. Work experience 9 years. The price for a consultation is 3,200 rubles.
There is no need to be afraid to report your problems and start treatment. Psychotherapists in St. Petersburg will help you quickly find the cause of pain and select a comfortable therapy for the patient.
Why should you go to specialists for help?
I would like to remind you that any pain will end sooner or later. Even if it seems like it will never be possible to remove it. And although the phrase: “Time heals” can sometimes be annoying, it never loses its relevance. Because after night there always comes day.
You can simply speed up the healing process by turning to specialists. When the body is sick, a person goes to the doctors. This is, of course, when he is interested in living a full life.
If not, then he ignores the disease and drinks alcohol so as not to worry too much about its presence. But this option is not for us. So, when your soul hurts, turn to psychologists and psychotherapists.
With their help, you can discover the true causes of painful experiences. Accordingly, you will understand how to deal with them for sure, and you will transform your defense mechanisms from destructive to constructive.
And, most importantly, get support, speak out, cry if necessary and simply feel the presence of another person nearby. Quality, not when they listen to you with half an ear, thinking about their own things and dreaming when you will shut up.
By the way, if you feel really bad, you should consult a psychiatrist. Not to be locked in a clinic and have your hands tied in a straitjacket.
And so that after the consultation, if necessary, medications are prescribed that will relieve anxiety, calm and relax. Antidepressants, for example, will help improve mood, which is usually either absent or unstable.
And it won’t hurt to get enough sleep to restore resources spent on emotions if you are prescribed sleeping pills.
In general, remember, the sooner you get help, the greater the likelihood of recovery without any special consequences for the body.
Let’s say, without accompanying depression, asthenia, or, even worse, mental disorders, the occurrence of which can be triggered by stress.
Causes
All reasons for experiencing pain in the soul, as mentioned above, can be divided into two groups:
- first – diseases (mental disorders and behavioral disorders),
- the second is psychological (psychogenic), conflicts between “real” and “desired” (true neuroses).
Help with mental pain
It is possible and necessary to help a person experiencing mental pain.
In some cases, help means conversation and support or, conversely, isolation and temporary loneliness.
In others, neurometabolic therapy using special methods of psychotherapy and medications, constant strict supervision by the attending physician.
Unfortunately, there is no universal remedy for mental pain. Each case requires an individual solution.
Methods
Recovery
When a person feels suffering, he loses connection with himself, his body. Therefore, in order to heal the soul, it is important to restore contact with the body.
Let's say, if you can easily tolerate a massage, go for at least 5 sessions. Feeling the boundaries of your body, it will be easier for you to notice that experiences also have these boundaries, and accordingly, someday you will go beyond their limits and experience relief.
The muscles of the back and neck will relax, which are usually very tight, tense and cause discomfort during stress.
Reflection
No matter how childish it may seem, keep a diary where you pour out the entire stream of thoughts that are swarming in your head. You cannot accumulate unpleasant and difficult emotions, as this will only make the situation worse.
Imagine that a wound has festered, and instead of disinfecting it, treating it with medicine and covering it with an adhesive bandage, a person simply took it and covered it with something so as not to see.
In general, you understand, take a leaf and free up space within yourself for other feelings and thoughts.
Just don’t immediately criticize what you’ve written. You will re-read everything later, when it becomes easier.
Physical exercise
Yes, the best way to get rid of mental suffering is to work hard physically. Choose the method yourself, let it be a workout, general cleaning, or just a long walk in the park.
In addition to the fact that you will relieve excess tension, you will get tired, which means you will fall asleep faster. This will also give you a dose of endorphins, joy hormones.
Even if not immediately, but gradually you will begin to enjoy physical activity. And as a bonus there will be a toned figure and improved well-being.
Immerse yourself in a state
Yes, it's scary, almost terrifying at times. After all, how can you allow yourself to completely surrender to feelings if it’s already unbearable?
But this is necessary, the longer you try to avoid suffering, the longer you will live with it.
Enlist the support of loved ones, allow yourself not to be happy and smiling for at least some time. If you feel bad about parting with your loved one, grieve, that’s the only way you can
you will gradually reach a level where there is not pain, but sadness. And there it’s just a stone’s throw away to a feeling of relief, calm and even tranquility.
Just don’t try to forget what happened. This will devalue what should have been part of your life story, part of you.
Take care of your health
If you have an addiction, no matter to alcohol, cigarettes, etc., be sure to take up the question of how to get rid of it. Because addictions only aggravate the condition, and do not help in any way to recover and become happy.
Review your diet by giving up fatty and fried foods. Add foods that will help your body recover, such as nuts, vegetables, sea fish, spinach.
And bananas, grapes and oranges with strawberries stimulate the production of endorphins, joy hormones.
Be sure to get enough sleep, most importantly, do not give in to hysterics before going to bed, including movies that only make you want to cry.
Ventilate the room, drink a glass of warm milk and calm the swarm of thoughts in your head by, for example, performing breathing techniques to relieve stress.
Journey
Under no circumstances should you remain completely alone for a long time. Yes, this is extremely necessary at times, but there is a risk of getting so used to it that in the future you won’t be able to let anyone near you.
So, when you realize that it’s time to act, otherwise despondency and apathy will take over, try changing the picture. Enlist the support of someone who can be there for you without further traumatizing you, and go on a journey.
You don’t have to fly to another country, just get out of your home and go on a tour of your own city. Visit an exhibition, a museum, in general, try to spend time a little differently than lately.
Methods for treating illness
Therapeutic measures aimed at eliminating psychogenic pain are most often based on taking mild sedatives and anti-anxiety drugs, sedative herbal tinctures, and sometimes (in cases of serious mental conflict) even tranquilizers and antidepressants.
Often, to eliminate pain, various methods of psychotherapy are used, which most often do not give the desired result with a single use. The following therapeutic techniques are known in the treatment of psychogenic pain:
- cognitive-behavioural;
- body-oriented;
- psychoanalysis.
When using a cognitive-behavioral approach, the main goal is to establish a general psychological picture of the onset of pain. The second step will be to perform special exercises aimed at relieving discomfort and unpleasant sensations.
At the same time, patients are given special psychological techniques that effectively combat stress and help get rid of tension. For people who are in constant anxiety and acutely perceive any events in life, the doctor develops a specialized program to combat fear.
Body-oriented psychotherapy is aimed at identifying the problem of psychalgia and creating a special protective block in the form of tightened muscles of the arms, legs, hunched shoulders and others. According to experts who actively use this technique, to correct psychogenic pain you just need to get rid of muscle tension through specialized breathing and physical exercises.
Psychoanalysis consists of analyzing the psychogenic syndrome as a reaction to the influence of serious traumatic factors. A patient who is regularly in conflict situations and quarrels with people displaces them to an unconscious level, not solving the problem situation, but putting it on the back burner.
But it is important to remember that if you try to forget about the offense for a while, then after some time it will definitely make itself felt and can even develop into conditions such as psychogenic neck pain, long-term depression, nervous breakdown and other psychological problems. The psychoanalytic method of treatment helps to determine the main cause of the ailment, and also allows patients to quickly get rid of the pressing problem, without bringing the situation to a state where there is a risk of a serious illness.
