My investigation reports are normal; but I still don’t feel well…
As a Homoeopathic Physician, I frequently come across this statement when patients seek help for their health complaints. Multiple visits to specialist consultants, a long list of investigations and body checkups in the form of health packages are the general course of action for most people. But what happens when all your reports are normal and no specific diagnosis is made for your complaints? What do you do when you don’t feel good about your health in routine life?
People seek help from alternative medicine consultants only when they don’t get an answer to their sickness from their regular modern medicines –
‘Why does my X-ray/MRI report show no abnormality even while I continue to suffer from chronic lower backache?’
‘Why do repeated ultra sound scans show normal results despite frequent abdominal pain?’
An essential factor that needs to be well understood is that diseases are not just physical complaints. There is a mental aspect to every physical disease. If headaches were merely a physical symptom, a painkiller should have relieved the headache each time. In most cases, patients are not relieved permanently and headaches recur. When asked in detail about each episode, patients themselves realize that usually whenever there was a personal or professional stress, the headache aggravated. Even painkillers did not help at that time. This is a classical example of physical effects of mental illness.
When the patient complains of tiredness and fatigue, most physicians commonly advice to check Haemoglobin levels, Thyroid functions, Vitamin D3 and B12 levels etc. However if these investigations turn out to be normal, no specific diagnosis is offered and usually multivitamins are started eventually which don’t help much. What is often missed is probing into the mental aspects which may be causing or contributing to these symptoms.
We need to start thinking why the relatively younger age group of 25 to 35 years, are increasingly being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, hypertension and other metabolic derangements. People in this age group are usually physically fit but still land up having the above conditions. Thanks to the search engine on the internet, only the awareness about these diseases has increased and hence the need to visit multiple doctors. However, when they are advised to make lifestyle modifications and told that stress is the key culprit, they only switch to another doctor, looking for a more believable and easier solution to their problems.
This is where one needs to step back and focus on what we call mental health. The word ‘stress’ is used often in our daily conversations, but largely ignored when it comes to actively taking steps in reducing its impact on our routine life. When we do a thorough case taking as part of our treatment, patients often wonder why we need to know such details about their personal and work life. We then explain how their life situations, behaviour patterns and emotional reactions have a direct influence on their physical health.
Each one of us needs to proactively prioritize improving our quality of life. The effect of daily stress can be effectively countered with counseling, engaging in physical activities such as yoga, meditation, any form of exercise or pursuing a hobby.
Take responsibility to make life what you want or thought it should be. Making small changes to daily habits may initially appear difficult. Consistent efforts will bear fruits by way of a more holistic approach towards health, a general sense of well being and a feeling of having better control of one’s own mind and body.