Mind Body Medicine

What is mind body medicine?

Mind body medicine is about physical and psychological stress and their association. A diseased body may be the cause of mental tension. Vice versa pure psychological distress may lead to many disorders like headache, migraine, high and low B.P., gastritis and peptic ulcer, bronchial asthma, hypertension heart disease etc. 

How physical and psychological stresses can be identified?

Physical or physiological stress can be identified as environmental stress e.g. unclean air, water or eatables; living in overcrowded places or solitary living; over or under nutrition; over or under exercise; infections and certain surgical conditions.

Psychological stress can be identified in the form of maladjustment with others; bad planning leading to failures; over or under spending; anxious or over jealous behavior etc. These manifest in the form of anxiety and depression, drug addiction, sexual disorders like impotence [males] and frigidity [females]. Many diseases like hypertension and heart disease may get aggravated by psychological factors.

How do mind body medicine  cure these ailments?

Educating the person about his actual physical and psychological condition is only cure. Person with the help of his physician will make necessary changes in his     life style,  habits  and   his     physical

environment. Secondly mind body medicine through different strategies will help relax the person both physically and mentally. 

How Ayurveda and naturopathy is associated with mind body medicine?

Ayurveda is Indian way of healing. Popular misconception is that Ayurveda is about herbal or other forms of desi medication. Ayurveda is actually about identifying the body type of a person i.e. vata, pitta and kaffa and finding the doshas related with these and thus effecting the cure by removing particular dosha through change in dietary habits and some common house hold remedies. Naturopathy is all about detoxification of body by different methods. Some of these methods are grouped under common heading called Panchakarma. Steam bath, ayurvedic massage, Shirodhara, Snehana, Aromatherapy are some of the methods included in panchakarma therapy.

How biofeedback is associated with mind body medicine?

Biofeedback technique can be perceived as psycho-physiological mirror of the body. You start receiving psychological and physiological stress signals from body and mind at the feeling level similarly as you see yourself in a mirror and correct your dress and make-up. Here you correct these signals viz. pulse-rate, respiratory rate, GSR[ galvanic skin response], temperature etc. EEG and EMG are also part of the biofeedback devices which are better termed as neuro-feedback devices. Here person visualizes and monitors his EEG to have high alfa-waves during relaxation.

What disorders can be effectively treated through biofeedback devices?

Migraine headaches, Tension headaches, chronic pain, non-cardiac chest pain, Urinary  Incontinence, irritable bowl syndrome, High and low blood pressure, cardiac arrhythmias, hyperactivity disorders in children, epilepsy, insomnia, depression etc. respond well to biofeedback methods. Biofeedback effectively tells the person how thoughts affect the body; monitor his relaxation; help him concentrate and do meditation in a way.

Swaran J Omcawr