Physical Symptoms During Pleasurable Emotional States

Abstract

The occurrence of somatic changes during pleasurable emotional states is illustrated by 13 cases in which symptoms occurred during joy or elation as well as during such states as anxiety, resentment, and depression. The symptoms were observed in nearly all systems of the body and included cardiac arrhythmias, strabismus, urinary frequency and urgency, diarrhea and headache. In some instances unconscious emotional disturbances may be responsible for the occurrence of symptoms during conscious pleasurable states. In other instances an altered physical state may be a factor in the production of symptoms during such states. The chief significance of these symptoms lies in their misinterpreta-_ tion by the patient whose resistance to a psychosomatic formulation of his problem may be enhanced by the occurrence of symptoms during periods of joy and elation.