Understanding and Relieving Unexplained Symptoms Through Psychoanalysis

The body may also express tension through trembling, sweating, hot flushes or chills, dizziness, light-headedness, feelings of weakness, tingling or numbness. Some people may experience persistent fatigue, a feeling of exhaustion, or, on the contrary, an inability to relax or release physical tension.

Symptoms may also affect the digestive system: a knot or pain in the stomach, nausea, bloating, acid reflux, diarrhoea, constipation, alternating digestive problems, or changes in appetite. Sleep may be disrupted by difficulty falling asleep, waking during the night, restless sleep, or waking too early.

Other manifestations may appear on the skin or take the form of repetitive bodily behaviours: itching, redness, skin flare-ups, excessive sweating, hair loss, an urge to scratch, bite one's nails, or repeatedly tense certain parts of the body.

Psychological tension may also be accompanied by jaw clenching, muscle pain, a sensation of a knot in the stomach, changes in libido, or sexual difficulties.

These manifestations may occur occasionally or return repeatedly, sometimes in specific circumstances. They may appear before a person has consciously identified what is troubling them. The body can then become the place where tension, emotion, or distress is expressed, without this necessarily meaning that the symptom has a psychological origin.

In my psychoanalytic consultations in Lyon, both in person and online, the work involves exploring what these physical symptoms may represent for the individual, what they may express or maintain in their psychic life, and what may be repeated in their relationship with their body, themselves, and others.

A person may feel that they are no longer functioning as they used to, without being able to identify what has changed. Sometimes, distress is first experienced in the body, before it can be identified or put into words: a pain appears, the stomach tightens, the heart begins to race, sleep becomes disrupted, or physical tension becomes difficult to ease.

The first step may be to give space to what is being experienced and to explore the circumstances in which the symptom appears, the way it manifests in the body, and the associations it evokes.

A symptom may seem to appear without any obvious reason. It may nevertheless be associated with particular events, relationships, emotions, or periods in a person's life. It may also manifest differently depending on the situation: some people may experience intense physical tension, others pain, a feeling of tightness, digestive problems, or difficulty sleeping.

From a psychoanalytic perspective, the absence of an immediately conscious cause does not mean that a symptom is without meaning. This does not, however, mean that one should systematically search for an early or childhood cause, or assume that a physical symptom necessarily has a psychological origin.

Repetition can be particularly difficult to understand when a person knows what they would like to do differently.

It may involve a symptom, a behaviour, a relationship, or a way of reacting. It may also take a bodily form: pain that returns in certain circumstances, tension that appears before a particular encounter, digestive problems during periods of stress, palpitations, or difficulty sleeping when certain concerns become present.

Psychoanalysis seeks to understand what makes this repetition possible, what it may be expressing, and the place it occupies in the subject's history.

When a symptom regularly appears in particular circumstances, it can be useful to observe what happens immediately beforehand.

What situation was taking place? What did you feel? What were you thinking? What happened in your body? Did the tension appear before or after a particular emotion, thought, or event?

These observations can make it possible to begin identifying certain connections, without immediately seeking to interpret them.

Stress can produce many physical manifestations: muscle tension, pain, a lump in the throat or stomach, digestive problems, an increased heart rate, difficulty breathing, headaches, dizziness, trembling, sweating, hot flushes, fatigue, or sleep disturbances.

The body can therefore become the place where tension is expressed, sometimes before a person is even aware of what has triggered it.

These symptoms should be taken seriously and medically assessed when necessary. The fact that a symptom may be triggered or maintained by a stressful situation does not, by itself, establish a psychological cause.

Once medical causes have been investigated, it may also be useful to explore what, psychologically, accompanies or maintains this tension: In what situations does the body react? What is happening around the appearance of the symptom? What emotions or thoughts are present?

Some physical symptoms may persist despite the absence of a sufficient medical explanation: pain, digestive problems, unusual bodily sensations, fatigue, tension, or sleep disturbances can all be very real, even when medical examinations do not immediately identify their cause.

This certainly does not mean that they are imaginary. A symptom is a real experience, even when its origin has not yet been identified.

When medical causes have been properly investigated, it may also be useful to explore the psychological dimension of what is being experienced. This does not mean denying the body or replacing medical care, but rather examining the way the symptom appears, the circumstances in which it occurs, and what it may be bringing into play in the person's life.

A symptom can become the starting point for a process of understanding.

It may manifest itself in thoughts, behaviours, relationships, or in the body. Pain, tension, a feeling of pressure, digestive problems, palpitations, or sleep disturbances can become experiences to observe and consider in relation to what is happening in a person's life.

Over the course of sessions, connections may emerge with personal history, relationships, recent events, or earlier experiences.

These connections are not established in advance. The work consists in exploring what the symptom represents for the individual, the circumstances in which it appears, and what it may bring into play in their present life.

The aim is therefore not necessarily to find a single cause for the symptom, but to allow possible meaning to emerge through speech, associations, and the individual's unique history.

When a symptom returns, it is natural to want it to disappear. Some people, however, also feel the need to understand why it appeared, why it takes this particular form, and why it returns in certain circumstances.

Anxiety, depression, insomnia, anger, repetitive behaviours, relationship difficulties, or certain bodily manifestations can then become starting points for exploring what is taking place in one's psychic life.

The body can sometimes express a tension or distress that has not yet found words. Observing what happens in the body, when the symptom appears, and in what circumstances it returns can open up a space for reflection on what is being experienced.

Understanding does not necessarily mean finding a single cause. It means gradually giving meaning to what is being experienced through the person's history and speech.

An analytic approach can therefore be understood as a process of in-depth exploration, in which symptoms, bodily manifestations, relationships, memories, desires, and repetitions can be brought into relation with one another when such connections emerge through speech.

It is important to remember that any physical manifestation should be taken seriously. Pain, palpitations, breathing difficulties, digestive problems, or any other persistent or unusual symptom may have many possible medical causes. Medical assessment may therefore be necessary.

I offer psychoanalytic consultations in Lyon, both in person and online, for people who wish to explore what their symptom may be bringing into play in their lives.