Some unexplained physical symptoms may be caused by unresolved emotional trauma
I’ve been testing this hypothesis - as best as one possibly can without conventional medical support - for the past few years.<p>I’ve found that with persistence, emotion-based therapies are  effective at bringing about healing of chronic physiological illnesses.<p>Prior to that I’d spent several frustrating years seeking diagnosis for conditions that were debilitating but not apparently identifiable or treatable.<p>To me they manifested as chronic muscle and joint pain, digestive issues, fatigue&#x2F;lethargy, skin conditions, signs of inflammation. Medical tests found only mild deficiencies of Vitamin D and iron, with recommendations to treat with diet or supplements but otherwise nothing wrong. Yet the pain and fatigue was debilitating and made it impossible to live a normal life.<p>In desperation I turned to unconventional therapies and came across a set of techniques that seek to identify and resolve traumas&#x2F;complexes&#x2F;phobias stuck in the subconscious mind.<p>I’ve been undertaking these practices consistently for about 6-7 years now, and slowly but surely my symptoms are subsiding and all aspects of my life are improving.<p>Why does has it taken so long?<p>It turns out there was a huge amount of emotional baggage to work through. Not obvious stuff like childhood abuse; just a lot of unpleasant experiences that began from being an anxious child, and snowballed as life progressed.<p>I’ve now worked through several thousand instances of trauma from throughout my life. Much of it is minor or seemingly trivial, and some of it is profound, but it all seems to play a role, and the process of identifying&#x2F;understanding&#x2F;resolving it is directly correlated with the alleviation of my symptoms.<p>I’m now quite certain that this concept would have a huge impact on the medical world if it were to be embraced by the mainstream, but there’s huge resistance to it so it seems set to remain confined to the fringes for a long time to come.<p>Recently there&#x27;s been coverage (on HN [1] and elsewhere [2]) of Dr. Gabor Maté, a veteran physician who has studied the role of trauma in addiction and chronic illness. He advocates the position that there is near enough to a perfect correlation between chronic illness or addiction and trauma. From my own experience and from what I&#x27;ve observed in other people I know, this rings true.<p>I&#x27;m not sure what it will take for this notion to be embraced more widely and researched more deeply, but it seems pretty important.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=18497985" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=18497985</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=pUGGNPAK6uw" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=pUGGNPAK6uw</a>