Psychosomatics of stomatitis in adults and children: causes of oral disease

Recent studies prove that the nature of many diseases lies not only in physical factors, but also depends on the emotional state of a person. Stress and disorders can become a stimulant for the development of pathological processes in various organs and areas of the body, including the oral cavity. The psychosomatics of stomatitis is explained, first of all, by the inability to control one’s emotions and adequately respond to stressors. Therefore, this disease is most often observed in children.

What is stomatitis

Stomatitis (oral mucositis) is an inflammatory disease that affects the oral mucosa. The disease can have different origins and vary in clinical manifestations. Damage to the mucous membranes can be either an independent pathology or a consequence of other diseases. For example, flu, measles, and emotional distress.

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There are several classifications of oral diseases:

depending on the root cause: bacterial, fungal, viral, erosive, radiation origin;
depending on concomitant pathologies: streptococcal, syphilitic infection.

The following types of stomatitis are distinguished:

ulcerative;
candida;
aphthous;
herpetic;
allergic;
toxic, etc.

Damage to the mucous membranes of the oral cavity occurs as a result of exposure to pathogenic factors. However, to increase the intensity of their influence, predisposing factors are necessary that can initiate the onset of the disease. Infectious agents that can cause stomatitis include:

streptococci;
gonorrhea;
tuberculosis;
herpetic virus;
cytomegalovirus;
smallpox;
measles;
flu;
parainfluenza;
candidiasis, etc.

If we consider the traditional physiological factors that contribute to the development of stomatitis, then among them are:

gastrointestinal diseases;
disorders of the cardiovascular system;
general decrease in immunity;
helminthic infestation;
alcohol abuse;
smoking;
allergen influence;
taking medications;
chemotherapy and radiation.

The psychosomatics of stomatitis is explained by a disturbance in the emotional background, which is reflected in physiological manifestations. Pathogenic organisms that can provoke inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity are activated when a person experiences a strong psychological shock, or if he is under stress for a long period of time. Among the most common psychosomatic causes are:

anger;
resentment (including long-standing);
guilt;
inability to forgive;
excessive perfectionism.

When a person’s psycho-emotional system poorly perceives new information, negative events, and inadequately assesses the situation (for example, exaggerates its importance), oral diseases can occur - stomatitis, periodontal disease, gingivitis and even ulcers on the tongue.

What is psychosomatics and how does it manifest itself: the opinion of a psychologist

One of the main requests with which people often turn to the Moscow Psychological Assistance Service is anxiety and stress. Experts note that it is imperative to work with these negative emotions, since they can have a serious impact on human health. Psychologist Elena Gerasimova talks about what psychological causes cause somatic disorders, what psychosomatics is and how it manifests itself.

In life, we constantly accumulate mental stress, and our body reports that something is wrong with it. This phenomenon is called a “psychosomatic disorder.” Psychosomatics is a branch of medicine and psychology that studies how feelings and experiences affect a person’s physical health.

Psychological reasons that can cause somatic diseases:

Lack of positive emotions (low mood, anxiety, depression, stress). A person needs positive impressions no less than vitamins.
Negative destructive thoughts directed at oneself or at other people: “everything is bad.”
Repeating certain phrases that provoke health problems (for example, the phrase “I can’t see you” can lead to myopia).
Voluntary “transfer” of the illnesses of someone close to you (identification).
Exhausting feelings of guilt, self-flagellation.
Self-hypnosis under the influence of sources that are authoritative in a person’s opinion (information from encyclopedias, the Internet, television).
Manipulation of a non-existent, fictitious illness (with the help of an illness a person tries to organize the actions and feelings of other people).

When your heart hurts

25-year-old Muscovite Margarita turned to a psychologist. The girl dated a young man, Ivan, for two years. She dreamed of getting married and starting a family. Ivan, on the contrary, was happy with everything. He was in no hurry to formalize the relationship legally, because he believed that there was no need to rush, he needed to live for himself. The girl more than once raised the conversation about marriage and having children, but the young man answered irritably: “Why do we need formalities? We feel so good together! Are you ready to be a mother at all? These baby diapers, screams and all that? You yourself are used to silence, but the child will constantly demand attention. If you want, babysit your niece.” This answer, which was not received for the first time, did not suit the girl, and another scandal broke out between the couple. Accusations of Ivan being frivolous and irresponsible began. But he continued to stand his ground.

The young people decided to separate for a while. Everyone thought about their own. Margarita was very worried, she began to suffer from frequent headaches, insomnia, loss of appetite and heart rhythm disturbances, and her blood pressure periodically increased. My health worsened and I had to see a doctor. The examination did not reveal any pathology. The doctor recommended that she see a psychologist.

“Functional heart rhythm disturbance is a reaction to conflict situations, anxiety, when a person takes everything to heart. There is a connection between fear and heart rate. Blood vessels regulate the autonomic nervous system, which is connected to our emotions and directly interacts with feelings,” notes the psychologist.

Mental stress, conflicts and worries lead to contraction of smooth muscles, changes in the condition of blood vessels and, as a result, increased blood pressure, heart rhythm disturbances, and chest pain. Fear can cause increased heart rate and heart pain, and conversely, pain with an altered heart rate can cause fear. Both processes increase their impact on each other and uncontrollably turn into an attack.

How can you help yourself

At the moment a familiar pain occurs, remember all the details of the situation: what actions you performed, what you looked like, what sensations you felt, what you thought. If you were talking with someone at this time, be sure to remember the words of your interlocutor and your thoughts about them. This will help you analyze and determine what exactly you are reacting to.

The following psychosomatic disorders are distinguished:

diseases:
gastrointestinal tract (gastric and duodenal ulcers, ulcerative colitis);
endocrine (diabetes mellitus, Graves' disease - thyrotoxicosis);
respiratory system (bronchial asthma);
skin system (neurodermatitis, scabies on certain parts of the body);
musculoskeletal system (rheumatoid arthritis, osteochondrosis);
headaches (tension pain - muscle pain in the neck, back of the head, temples, pressing dull pain, combined with other pain, for example, pain in the legs; pain that covers the “whole head”, paroxysmal, sharp, throbbing, not combined with other pain; pain unilateral, sometimes covering both sides);
oncological diseases (tumors, neoplasms);
vegetative neuroses — in the first place are vegetative symptoms (no organic lesions):
hyperventilation syndrome - a pathological condition similar to asthma, without organic damage, spreading to the respiratory system (with all organs intact);
panic attacks - manifested in a powerful vegetative shift (impaired cardiovascular activity, gastrointestinal tract, feeling of lack of air, increased blood pressure, feeling of fear, anxiety, tremors, etc.);
hysterical conversion - hysterical symptoms can be manifested in any disease; they arise when a person wants to achieve a certain goal through demonstrations and manipulations.

When a fictional disease becomes reality

27-year-old Victoria, at the insistence of her mother, received a higher education in economics, but did not want to work in her specialty. Her boyfriend offered various employment options, but the girl found any excuses and reasons not to work. She liked a carefree life, and she didn’t want to change anything. The young man was sent on a business trip for a week; he recommended that the girl find a job, as she might have financial difficulties. Having promised to look into this issue, three days later Victoria became bored. She spent most of the money left for groceries on an expensive dress and decided to ask to visit a married friend: “there will always be something to eat there.” Victoria quickly grew tired of the gatherings, since her friend’s four-year-old daughter required constant attention. Vika began to get irritated, because she came to share her problems, but here the child does not allow her to talk calmly! The girl left the house.

When the young man returned, the first thing he did was inquire about Victoria’s progress in finding a job, and was involved in a colorful story about fruitless unsuccessful interviews with a demonstration of a new dress. The young man was angry at the prank, and he gave an ultimatum: either Victoria looks for a job, or they separate. The girl did not expect such a turn of events. What to do?

The next morning, Victoria complained of feeling unwell, citing pain in the heart, weakness, dizziness and nausea. Victoria feigned illness, deciding to stall for time. After a week of continuous “poor health,” the young man took Victoria to the doctor for examination. The results showed complete health. Having confirmed the deception, the man decided to leave. Vika tearfully begged him to save the relationship, claiming that she was “really bad” and needed help. The young man gave her a second chance. After some time, one morning the girl woke up from severe pain in the chest and shortness of breath. She got scared and went into loud hysterics. An ambulance was called. This time Victoria did not pretend, real symptoms appeared. She was sent for treatment to a neurosis clinic with a diagnosis of psychosomatic disorder. After successful treatment, Victoria turned to a psychologist.

Exercises that will help improve your condition:

"Candle"

Imagine that there is a large candle in front of you. You need to take a deep breath and try to blow it out with one exhalation. Repeat. Once again.

Now imagine that you need to blow out five small candles. Take a deep breath and blow them out one by one in small portions of exhalations. Repeat. Once again.

“My illness in the drawing”

Draw and tell it to yourself or someone close to you:

How did you find out about the disease?
How did you change when this happened?
What is the worst thing you imagine about your illness?
What happens when you recover?
What does being healthy and strong mean to you?
How do you see yourself in the future?

«Sun"

Draw a sun with rays and write your positive qualities on these rays. Read them out loud to yourself or someone close to you.

See how many positive qualities you have! There is something to praise and love yourself for. Do this often!

You can learn more about psychosomatics and get answers from a psychologist to your questions from specialists of the Moscow Psychological Assistance Service, both in individual consultations and during webinars. You can sign up for consultations and online classes on the website.

Source

Press service of the Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Moscow

Stomatitis and stress

Stress is an integral part of human life. From the point of view of achieving goals and building character, it can be useful. On the other hand, constant stress can negatively affect health and productivity. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), stress-related problems will become one of the leading causes of disability in the next decade. Stress can also lead to a number of systemic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, autoimmune diseases and oral pathologies.

Psychological stress may play an important role in the occurrence of recurrent stomatitis. Emotional stress becomes a trigger rather than the main physical cause of the disease. Under the influence of stress, the immune system is weakened, and as a result, the body cannot resist even minor infections.

Psychosomatics of stomatitis is quite often observed in the category of people who are regularly exposed to stressors or, for one reason or another, have a low stress threshold. For example, students at medical universities systematically experience stress both during their studies and during work. An extremely tense educational atmosphere, the complexity of the curriculum, the high responsibility of the profession, and the uncertainty of the future negatively affect the psychological state of the student every day.

Proof of this is a study conducted among students of the Government Dental College in Jammu, India. The study involved 160 people who underwent a special survey. Among the participants, 55% confirmed that they are bothered by inflammation in the oral cavity at least once a year. However, for most, the symptoms disappeared completely or decreased significantly in about a week.

The study took into account the frequency and intensity of stress experienced by participants. Junior students reported increased levels of anxiety, while senior students experienced less psycho-emotional stress. They also noted a low frequency of relapses of inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity. When the incidence of stomatitis was compared according to different levels of stress measured on a special scale. The maximum number of incidents was observed among students who experienced stress constantly or quite often. And only a few participants who never experienced stress reported rare episodes of illness.

According to the data obtained, psychosomatic stomatitis among dental graduates was observed in more than half of the subjects. There was a consistent dependence on the level of stress among fixed episodes. Current evidence suggests the need for strategies to reduce stress levels in the population and improve physical and psychological well-being.

Quarrel as a factor of stomatitis

In adults, psychosomatic causes of stomatitis may be associated with constant disputes or verbal conflicts. If a person often enough tries to prove to someone his vision of an issue and comes across a “wall” of misunderstanding and ignorance, at a certain point his body weakens and can no longer resist the influence of external negative factors. The result of such overexertion is inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity, which can recur over time (depending on the duration of the conflict and its outcome).

Even memories of an unresolved dispute that a person experiences day after day can negatively affect the state of the psycho-emotional background. Also, an unvoiced point of view can have negative consequences if it is fundamental to a person. Therefore, psychologists emphasize the importance of an adequate assessment of the situation and a timely response to it, so that in the future compensation for unresolved conflicts does not affect the person’s physical condition.

A prominent representative who has experienced the negative impact of constant controversy is the great psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud, whose ideas were previously often not recognized and were subject to harsh criticism. He suffered from cancer of the palate. The famous surgeon N.I. died of oral cancer. Pirogov, who became famous not only for his medical talent, but also for the introduction of educational reforms. Non-standard solutions in the education system were often rejected by narrow-minded authorities who did not understand the prospects for their application.

Oral diseases as a protest of the body

In psychosomatics, the mouth has one of the most obvious metaphysical explanations. He is responsible for speech. Accordingly, diseases of the oral cavity indicate that we are holding something back, using foul language, holding back by gritting our teeth, being sarcastic, etc. Let's look at the theories of three famous psychologists: V. Sinelnikov, Louise Hay, Liz Burbo.

Dr. Sinelnikov's theory

According to V. Sinelnikov’s theory, any disease reflects a person’s bad thoughts. Mouth ulcers indicate bias and contempt for something or someone. At the subconscious level, grievances, caustic remarks and complaints, caustic comments, and anger have accumulated. Wounds on the tongue and the pain that accompanies them indicate a loss of taste for life.

Solution to the problem: accept responsibility for the disease, identify destructive thoughts within yourself, eliminate phrases with double meanings from your speech.

Louise Hay's theory

According to Louise Hay, stomatitis speaks of suppressed anger that was not allowed to come out and a suppressed opinion that was not allowed to be expressed. At the same time, stomatitis can be a reaction to a biased attitude towards the world, a closed mind and refusal to accept new information. Stomatitis on the gums – lack of a clear life plan, indecision.

Affirmations for healing: “I feed on love”, “I rejoice in the generosity of my life”, “I speak freely and do not hold a grudge against anyone”, “I welcome novelty and new concepts, I am ready to perceive and assimilate them.”

Liz Burbo's theory

According to Liz Burbo, the mouth symbolizes the ability to swallow and digest ideas. Moreover, ideas can be either your own or someone else’s. In this case, stomatitis may indicate rash decisions and an inability to accept new things. Stomatitis in the form of ulcers speaks of bad thoughts, obsessions, fear, thoughtless aggressive defense, and caustic criticism of another person. This may also be a consequence of feelings of guilt for dirty words.

Solution: you need to develop psychological flexibility, learn openness and critical, but not categorical processing of information. Learn to express your opinions and feelings. You are not obligated to please your interlocutor and predict his reactions to your words.

Stomatitis in children

Stomatitis is a common occurrence in childhood. It is usually associated with poor hygiene in children, which is normal for this age. Children often lick dirty hands, objects on the street, they can eat food that has fallen on the ground, etc. This is how they learn about the world. Thus, pathogenic organisms easily enter the mouth and cause various inflammatory processes.

At the same time, children, especially younger ones, have an immature nervous system, so they do not yet know how to adequately respond to emotional shocks. As a result of constant stress, a child can develop various psychosomatic pathologies that damage the oral cavity, respiratory tract (for example, bronchial asthma) and skin (atopic dermatitis, etc.).

In children of preschool and school age, psychosomatic factors in the development of stomatitis may include problems with socialization, changes in routine (to which children are very sensitive), academic stress and other problems in school/family. To treat and exclude relapse of the disease, it is necessary to pay attention not only to the physical component of therapy, but also to the psychological state of the child. It should be remembered that he needs support and understanding. It is sometimes difficult for a child to solve his problems even due to the fact that he cannot formulate his experiences. Therefore, he needs the help of an adult.

Stomatitis - body protest

Stomatitis is more often encountered in childhood, but adults are no exception in this regard. The disease is not life-threatening, but it causes a lot of discomfort, especially in its advanced stage. Attempts at self-medication create no less problems: by taking antibiotics uncontrollably, the body can develop resistance (immunity) to them, and the disease will progress to the chronic stage.

What causes stomatitis?

What does stomatitis look like?

With constant relapses, dental services are clearly not enough. To understand the root causes of the problem at the psychosomatic level, a consultation with a psychologist is necessary. Among the most common prerequisites for the occurrence of stomatitis, experts call:

small conflicts, dirt, experienced situations from which there is no way out;
conflict over words that we do not say, and they come back to us as sores;
aggression due to spoken words that were offensive and caustic;
situations when a person was not heard and was cut short;
stomatitis on the lower lip: I don’t say what burns my mouth, because I risk being left without food;
when you do not want the word to go beyond the permissible vocabulary.

If a person is constantly not allowed to speak out, this can develop into oral diseases

Treatment of stomatitis

In the treatment of stomatitis, it is necessary to use an integrated approach. The patient is first prescribed medications to relieve symptoms and at the same time referred for consultation with a psychologist or psychotherapist, depending on the situation.

Methods of psychological influence may include:

cognitive-behavioral correction;
psychoanalysis with further counseling;
neurolinguistic programming;
meditation techniques;
healing through art.

Family therapy may also be needed to address the child's problem. It will help establish harmony in the family and teach you to listen and hear your loved ones.

Another important way to treat and prevent recurrence of the disease in the future is to discuss your problems and dissatisfaction, as they say, “without delay.” Hidden resentment, unexpressed dissatisfaction, a constant lack of understanding on the part of the interlocutor will inevitably lead to a recurrence of stomatitis after a certain time. Therefore, it is better to talk and discuss your problems than to remain silent and hide them in the depths of your soul.

How to treat psychosomatic stomatitis

Stomatitis is not life-threatening, but it brings discomfort, especially if it reaches an advanced stage and becomes chronic. If relapses occur frequently, then we are definitely talking about psychosomatics. This means psychotherapy is needed.

Psychotherapy

The following methods have proven positive in the treatment of stomatitis:

Gestalt therapy;
NLP;
hypnosis;
family psychotherapy;
cognitive behavioral psychotherapy;
psychoanalysis;
body-oriented psychotherapy;
transactional analysis.

For serious psychological disorders, anti-anxiety medications and antidepressants may be needed. But only a psychotherapist can prescribe them.

In psychosomatics, the upper lip symbolizes our hidden desires, and the lower lip symbolizes the environment of our development. If we are angry with ourselves for saying something unnecessary, we bite our lips. But to prevent stomatitis, it is useful to speak out. Give yourself permission to express whatever you want. Especially angry words.

You don't have to insult someone. Use the unsent letter method: write everything you think, indicate the addressee, but do not send the letter. Or you can swear into the void, imagining the offender in front of you or taping his photo to a chair. The bottom line is the same: you need to get rid of those words that are on the tip of your tongue.

To correct your thinking, you can try this exercise:

Write down any nagging beliefs, such as “I'm afraid to express my opinion.”
Choose a positive analogy: “From now on, I express my opinion boldly, directly and without confusion.”

This way you can create affirmations for each problem yourself. This exercise has a good effect, as it responds to an individual approach.

Medicine

If stomatitis occurs as an allergy in response to some product, then the allergen must be excluded. And treat your mouth with an antiseptic. It is unacceptable to have contact with a person who has stomatitis. Even if you know the psychosomatic background of the disease, the possibility of a medical background cannot be excluded.

It is important! Until you eliminate the psychological causes, ointments, tablets and other medications will not help. They may temporarily eliminate the symptoms, but stomatitis will soon return with renewed vigor. Or even worse: it will become chronic.