Psychiatry Specialist Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Erkmen from Üsküdar University NPISTANBUL Hospital said that psychiatric pain that occurs despite the absence of any physiological disorder in the patient affects the quality of life.

Psychiatric pain should be treated by a psychiatrist

Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Erkmen stated that psychiatric pain must be treated by a psychiatrist and said the following:

"Psychological pain is pain that has been concluded that there should be no such pain in any way, even though various researches have been carried out, which were carried out by physicians before us. There is no disease, no germs or any irregularities in the patient's body and as a result, the patient is said to have no disease. In this case, the patient is left in the middle and asks himself/herself the following question: "If I don't have any disease, why am I suffering from this pain?" At this point, what we call psychiatric pain comes into play. Therefore, this patient needs to be treated by a psychiatrist."

Mental tensions cause pain

"When a person is mentally stressed, he/she may react differently," Erkmen said, "This can sometimes be fear of something, excessive meticulousness, seeing things that are not there or becoming depressed. The causes of pain are our fear and anxiety when we feel ourselves under pressure mentally. As a result of these fears and worries, our muscles contract and as a result, these pains occur."

Stating that back, stomach, headache and arm and leg pain are some of the diseases caused by stress, Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Erkmen said, "There is a concept called somatization in psychiatry. It means that mental illnesses react like physical illnesses." Erkmen said that these undiagnosed and non-physical diseases are diseases related to depression.

Psychological pain reduces quality of life

Stating that psychological pain is not different from any other pain, Erkmen said, "In other words, it is at least as severe, even much more severe. Psychological pain has a very high destructive power and makes a person's life miserable. You are doing a job and your back, head or anywhere hurts, your performance decreases. When you have the flu, 3-5 days of your life are of poor quality, in psychological pain, your quality of life decreases every day."

Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Erkmen stated that psychiatric pain is a disease that can also occur as a result of problems with one's work, spouse or environment, and drew attention to the need to consult a psychiatrist for pain that occurs for no reason:

"These disorders are exactly unknown pains and the unknown scares people a lot. There is pain but you cannot diagnose it. Some patients come with such great research results that both sides are right. The doctor investigates from all sides but in the end concludes that there is nothing, while the patient is aware of the pain and says that there is definitely something going on. At that point, instead of saying to the patient, 'There is nothing wrong with you', you should say, 'Your illness is a psychiatric illness, you need to go to a psychiatrist'. Some of my doctor friends say that this condition can be casually dismissed. This is also a mistake because psychological pain is usually a serious and long-lasting illness. Therefore, it is necessary to take high doses of medication and to continue the treatment relentlessly."

Psychotherapy support is important

Pointing out the importance of staying away from stress and socializing in psychiatric pain, Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Erkmen said that it is also important to receive psychotherapy support. Erkmen listed his recommendations as follows:

"When we tell a patient that if you do sports and socialize, you will be more likely to get rid of these pains, the patient questions how he will do sports when he cannot even walk. Normal patients are told to lie in bed and rest, but we psychiatrists tell the patient that they should get out of bed and socialize. If the patient takes this socialization process slowly and gradually, these disorders can be overcome more easily. At the same time, it is important to relax during the treatment and not to get into the "it's over and done with" mode. As a result, we need to undergo a long-term treatment process with high doses of medication. Psychotherapy can be very helpful in this process. You need to change your lifestyle and have an active life. You need to remove the problems in your life and continue the treatment relentlessly, which can be possible with psychotherapy.

Continuous use of medication causes health problems

Stating that patients may experience health problems due to continuous medication use due to psychiatric pain, Prof. Dr. Hüsnü Erkmen said, "These patients use the medications prescribed by the doctor intensively. There are some who take 3-5 or even 5-10 a day. But painkillers are much more dangerous drugs for the body than you think. Most of them have many side effects, especially on the kidney," he warned.