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Question About Stress Leading to Sickness

Discussion in 'Physical & Sexual Health' started by Mr Bubbles, Oct 29, 2013.

  1. Mr Bubbles

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    So basically over the past couple of years as I've come to accept the fact that I'm gay I've been getting sick (usually vomiting and/or diarrhea) a lot more often (30 days or so out of a year and before I knew I was gay I only got sick maybe 4 days a year). I'm not out yet (this is due to the fact that my family and most of the people in my area are extremely homophobic and religious so I'm a little worried about my safety if I come out :icon_sad:slight_smile:, and I'm wondering if perhaps the stress of having to hide who I am could be causing this? I've heard that stress can cause people to be sick, but I'm not sure if it could cause me to be sick that much. I've been to several doctors and no one really seems to know what is causing it, but of course they don't know that I've got a lot of stress from being in the closet. Any ideas or advice would be appreciated.

    P.S. No, I haven't had any sexual contact with anyone at any point in my life so thankfully I know it's not aids or some other STD.
    -Max
     
  2. Commenza

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    Hello,

    I don't have a lot of time but I will try to answer quickly.

    Have you ever heard of the term "psychosomatic"? It's a general term for illnesses that are mainly caused by mental conflicts such as stress or internal conflicts.

    I'm not a doctor (and even if I were, I couldn't examine you over the internet haha) but I know that such things as diarrhea or vomiting can often/sometimes be caused by stress. Of course, it could also have different reasons.

    You might want to look more into the whole psychosomatic topics (I bet you can find a lot about it on Google) and see if you recognize yourself somewhere. If you do, you need to find a way to reduce stress, or might want to see a therapist etc.

    I hope, this helped a little :3
     
  3. bingostring

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    The human body is very complex when stress is involved. You should check with a doctor... but I think it can affect digestive and also immune systems

    When I was 20 I had numbness in my right leg and right arm... then 5 years later chest pains and heart palpitations .. also put down to stress by my doctor
     
  4. Mr Bubbles

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    Thanks for the help everyone! It seems that my problem is probably psychosomatic. Now that I know what the problem is, I guess I've gotta find a way to fix it though.
     
  5. photoguy93

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    Stress can do crazy things. A few semesters back, I had the worst time with my bladder. I could hardly hold it and had to pee all the time. Not just pee...but an intense, has to happen now kind of pee.

    As I moved along and became less stressed and eventually worked on therapy and such, it went away.

    Anything is possible. You're working yourself into such a mess. It's not good for you. Our body is so complex. If you can't find a way to relax - like meditation or eating healthy, then you have to go to your doctor.
     
  6. bingostring

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    The longer term project is ... addressing why hiding your sexuality is tied up with so much fear (e.g.: is it your environment/ religious community etc) and would it be worth addressing that via discussion with a good friend, a LGBT group or a therapist etc etc

    I had an unhealthy amount of fear about coming out and it kept me in the closet much longer than I deserved.
     
  7. Chip

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    Even though it's accurate, I dislike the term "psychosomatic" because it has a pretty strong stigma associated with it, implying that the problem is entirely in your mind, and therefore "not real."

    Actually, the reality is a lot more complicated than that. Much of the reading I've recently been doing has been focused on the field of psychoneuroendicroimmunology. That's quite a mouthful, which is why they use PNEI for short. (As you can imagine, with my "pleasure" reading, I'm a real hit at parties, but that's another topic :slight_smile:)

    Anyway, the PNEI work looks at the impact of emotions, stress, and even our early-childhood experiences with our birth parents and how they influence immune function, but also our predisposition toward anxiety, depression, addiction, and various other factors, and our risk of certain diseases.

    The research data's very solid, extends back some 25 years, and clearly indicates that, in your case, psychological stress, such as that which develops from being closeted, can have a pretty severe impact on your immune system. It's not "in your head", but it is definitely impacted by the stress you are feeling as a result of the processing going on in your mind, and the energy you have to exert to stay closeted.

    The good news is, your immune system is quite resilient and as soon as you start working to reduce the cause of the stress, you'll see a pretty quick "bounce back." You may find that it positively impacts your physical health in other ways as well; it's pretty remarkable the impact that stress can have on us, and even though you may have only been consciously aware of what's going on in the last year, at an unconscious level, it's probably been impacting you for much longer... and all of that effect goes away as you work on coming out.
     
  8. Mr Bubbles

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    Thanks for the help and the info everyone!
    As far as reducing my stress however, I'm not really sure what to do. As I briefly mentioned in the op, I'm literally worried about my safety if I were to come out. My parents have frequently mentioned their hate for homosexuals and continually hound me about how it's a sin and everything. My mom can have quite a temper (she has broken doors from slamming them and has even left impressions in the wall from hitting them with her fists) so with that plus her religious beliefs it could get somewhat ugly. I also have to worry about the financial aspect, since I know that they wouldn't support me financially anymore. I mean, they have already warned me that if I went to a liberal college they wouldn't help me so I can't even imagine what they would do if they found out that I'm gay. I don't know, maybe just having a plan for coming out will help. I guess it's also possible that being able to vent a little and be myself on EC will help with the stress too so maybe I will be able to keep it under control for a year or so until I move out.