NEWS | homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor (olor)| pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | religion | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
More articles by Dr. Soucasaux: Anatomical drawings - Anovulatory cycles - Archetypal aspects of the female genitals - The breasts: some morphological aspects - Colposcopy - Comments on the corpus luteum and related aspects - Comments on some anatomical and symbolic aspects of the female pelvis - The curious relations between androgens and estrogens in women - Drospirenone Oral Contraceptives - Due to prohibition, Brazilian women don't have access to modern medicinal abortion - Endocrinology of menstruation - The Fallopian tubes - Female sexual response - The Gräfenberg Spot (G-Spot) - The Gynecologic Palpation (descendant of "The Touch") - Gynecological assistance: the three basic areas - Gynecology and Gynecologic Surgery - Gynecologist versus obstetrician: what lies behind the combination? - "Gyneco-obstetric-surgical" stubborness and the perpetuation of one of the greatest mistakes of women's medicine - Hypermenorrhea and/or Menorrhagia (Prolonged and/or Excessive Menstrual Bleedings) - Hypertrichosis, Hirsutism and Androgenic Manifestations in Women - Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKHauser) Syndrome - Menstrual toxin: An old name for a real thing? - Nature and the ovaries - On the Intimate, or Small-Scale, Mechanisms of Menstruation - On the Strange Nature of the Ovaries - Oral hormonal contraceptives (the "Pill") - The Ovaries: Some Functional and Archetypal Considerations - Peculiarities of the Female Genitals' Sensory Innervation - Physiology of menstruation - Polycystic ovaries syndrome - The Possibility of Becoming Pregnant, Its Implications for Women, and Abortion - Premenstrual congestion of the breasts - Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) - The Psychology of Gynecology part 1 (part 2) - Psychosomatic and symbolic aspects of menstruation - Psychosomatic gynecology - Some Details on the Function of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovaries Axis - Stanislav Grof's Perinatal Matrixes of the Unconscious and Women's Medicine - Symmetric Patterns in the Female Genitals - Thoughts on Female Sexual Psychology - Uninterrupted use of hormonal contraceptives for menstrual suppression: why I do not recommend it - The uterine cervix - Uterine contractility - The Uterus and the Female "Passive-Active" - Women's corporeal consciousness and experience - Women's Experience of the Breasts - Women's Undesired Pregnancies and Women's Right to Abortion and see his Art of Menstruation


Psychosomatic Gynecology

Dr. Nelson Soucasaux, Brazilian gynecologist

In the daily practice of a gynecology office, it is very easy to perceive that highly intricate emotional problems often lie behind a great number of the complaints, symptoms and disturbances that patients bring to the consultations. To a great extent, these emotional problems are related to several aspects of the female nature and constitution. Menstrual disorders, hormonal dysfunctions, premenstrual and menstrual symptoms, pelvic pains, recurrent vulvo-vaginitis, sexual problems, some of the symptoms attributed to the use of the hormonal contraceptives - to mention only some of the most frequent examples -, are often somatizations of several emotional problems. Additional reasons for consultation are the search for information and orientation about basic aspects of the female life: puberty, events related to the menstrual cycle, sexuality, contraceptive methods, pregnancy, menopause, etc. Thus, the importance of an essentially psychosomatic approach to gynecologic practice is enormous.

Women are inclined to project many of their emotional problems on the parts of their organism more related to the female nature, as their sexual organs and their intricate endocrine physiology. The interrelation between mind, cerebral cortex and limbic system, with its influence on the function of the hypothalamus-hypophysis-ovaries axis, is widely known. The ovarian function is commanded by the hypophyseal gonadotropins (FSH and LH), the release of which is controlled by the hypothalamus, part of the brain which the hypophysis is attached to. The ovarian hormones, in turn, act upon the hypothalamus and, by means of feedback mechanisms, contribute to the self-regulation of the system. In this way, starting from disturbances in the hypothalamus-hypophysis-ovaries axis, the most diverse hormonal dysfunctions can occur.

On the other hand, through the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems, many other projections of tensions can arrive at the woman's pelvic organs by the neurovegetative pathways. Alterations in the immunologic system - also susceptible to suffer influences of psychological factors - can also affect the genital apparatus, creating a predisposition to infections, and, together with other factors, have some participation in the development of cancer. As a result, emotional conflicts and neurosis can act by means of several neuroendocrine, neurovegetative and immunologic pathways, contributing to generate the most varied disturbances and pathological manifestations in women.

The neuroendocrine pathway has been the most researched one, and concerns the control of the ovarian function by the hypothalamus-hypophyseal system. As the hypothalamus is always receiving nervous stimuli from other parts of the brain, it is very easy to understand how the central nervous system has an enormous influence on the ovarian cycle and on the sexual steroids synthesis. The ovarian hormones produce a multiplicity of effects in the woman's sexual organs and in other parts of the female body. Considering that most of the gynecologic physiology is endocrine, the neuroendocrine system seems to be the most important pathway for the psychosomatic projections in gynecology. In this pathway, the actions of the mind and the central nervous system over the woman's body become apparent by means of the hormones.

The neurovegetative pathway has been less researched, but we should remember that it might also be very important. Through it, the nervous stimuli originating in the central nervous system arrive at the woman's sexual organs in a direct way, conducted by the vegetative innervation of these organs. Even considering that in normal conditions the neurovegetative influences over the female genitals can be small, in pathological situations a nervous hyperstimulation transmitted to these organs through their autonomic innervation must certainly assume a great importance, causing several disturbances and dysfunctions. On this subject, see my article "Fundamentos para o Estudo das Influências Neurovegetativas em Ginecologia" ("Basis for the Study of the Neurovegetative Influences in Gynecology").*

From the holistic point of view, there are several very important features of the female nature and constitution that, unfortunately, have been almost entirely forgotten by current gynecology. The study of this subject acquires great importance because the problems related to these features of the female nature, acting through the psychosomatic pathways, can be projected on the woman's body, generating many disturbances and pathological manifestations, depending on the mechanisms or parts of the organism "selected" for the somatizations. As we know, the "target" areas for the psychosomatic projections, as well as their patterns, seem to follow extremely individual determinisms.

One woman can suffer from amenorrhea or oligomenorrhea (absence of menstruation or long-lasting cycles), another from menorrhagia (menstrual hemorrhages); one other can present polymenorrhea (very short cycles) or intermenstrual bleedings, still another can exhibit aggravation of the premenstrual and menstrual symptoms, painful breasts, dysmenorrhea, etc. The same is valid for vulvo-vaginal pruritus, recurrent vaginitis, pelvic pains, dyspareunia (pain at sexual intercourse), various other sexual problems, etc. All of this depends on the individual predisposition for specific disturbances, as well as on the meaning of the psychosomatic projection which comprehends the whole personality and life of a specific woman.

What remains a mystery is why the somatization of a conflict manifests itself in a specific manner, creating a determined symptom or pathological manifestation. This happens because the "logic" of the projection does not always emerge clearly. Therefore, it is fundamental that gynecology pay attention to all of these mechanisms and to their complex and often obscure dynamics, and that women also become aware of the importance of psychosomatics.


*Soucasaux, Nelson - "Fundamentos para o Estudo das Influências Neurovegetativas em Ginecologia" ("Basis for the Study of the Neurovegetative Influences in Gynecology") - in: Jornal Brasileiro de Medicina, vol 57, nº 4, October 1989, Rio de Janeiro.


The text above is an excerpt from my book "Novas Perspectivas em Ginecologia" ("New Perspectives in Gynecology"). For more information on the book, see page http://www.nelsonginecologia.med.br/novas.htm, from my Website www.nelsonginecologia.med.br.

Copyright Nelson Soucasaux 1990, 2001

________________________________________________________________________

Nelson Soucasaux is a gynecologist especially dedicated to clinical, preventive and psychosomatic gynecology. Graduated in 1974 by Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, he is the author of several articles published in medical journals and of the books "Novas Perspectivas em Ginecologia" ("New Perspectives in Gynecology") and "Os Órgãos Sexuais Femininos: Forma, Função, Símbolo e Arquétipo" ("The Female Sexual Organs: Shape, Function, Symbol and Archetype"), published by Imago Editora, Rio de Janeiro, 1990, 1993.

Web site (Portuguese-English): www.nelsonginecologia.med.br

E-mail: nelsons@nelsonginecologia.med.br


NEWS | homepage | LIST OF ALL TOPICS | MUM address & What does MUM mean? | e-mail the museum | privacy on this site | who runs this museum?? |
Amazing women! | the art of menstruation | artists (non-menstrual) | asbestos | belts | bidets | founder bio | Bly, Nellie | MUM board | books: menstruation and menopause (and reviews) | cats | company booklets directory | contraception and religion | costumes | menstrual cups | cup usage | dispensers | douches, pain, sprays | essay directory | extraction | famous women in menstrual hygiene ads | FAQ | founder/director biography | gynecological topics by Dr. Soucasaux | humor | huts | links | masturbation | media coverage of MUM | miscellaneous | museum future | Norwegian menstruation exhibit | odor (olor)| pad directory | patent medicine | poetry directory | products, current | religion | your remedies for menstrual discomfort | menstrual products safety | science | shame | slapping, menstrual | sponges | synchrony | tampon directory | early tampons | teen ads directory | tour of the former museum (video) | underpants directory | videos, films directory | Words and expressions about menstruation | Would you stop menstruating if you could? | What did women do about menstruation in the past? | washable pads
More articles by Dr. Soucasaux: Anatomical drawings - Anovulatory cycles - Archetypal aspects of the female genitals - The breasts: some morphological aspects - Colposcopy - Comments on the corpus luteum and related aspects - Comments on some anatomical and symbolic aspects of the female pelvis - The curious relations between androgens and estrogens in women - Drospirenone Oral Contraceptives - Due to prohibition, Brazilian women don't have access to modern medicinal abortion - Endocrinology of menstruation - The Fallopian tubes - Female sexual response - The Gräfenberg Spot (G-Spot) - The Gynecologic Palpation (descendant of "The Touch") - Gynecological assistance: the three basic areas - Gynecology and Gynecologic Surgery - Gynecologist versus obstetrician: what lies behind the combination? - "Gyneco-obstetric-surgical" stubborness and the perpetuation of one of the greatest mistakes of women's medicine - Hypermenorrhea and/or Menorrhagia (Prolonged and/or Excessive Menstrual Bleedings) - Hypertrichosis, Hirsutism and Androgenic Manifestations in Women - Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKHauser) Syndrome - Menstrual toxin: An old name for a real thing? - Nature and the ovaries - On the Intimate, or Small-Scale, Mechanisms of Menstruation - On the Strange Nature of the Ovaries - Oral hormonal contraceptives (the "Pill") - The Ovaries: Some Functional and Archetypal Considerations - Peculiarities of the Female Genitals' Sensory Innervation - Physiology of menstruation - Polycystic ovaries syndrome - The Possibility of Becoming Pregnant, Its Implications for Women, and Abortion - Premenstrual congestion of the breasts - Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) - The Psychology of Gynecology part 1 (part 2) - Psychosomatic and symbolic aspects of menstruation - Psychosomatic gynecology - Some Details on the Function of the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Ovaries Axis - Stanislav Grof's Perinatal Matrixes of the Unconscious and Women's Medicine - Symmetric Patterns in the Female Genitals - Thoughts on Female Sexual Psychology - Uninterrupted use of hormonal contraceptives for menstrual suppression: why I do not recommend it - The uterine cervix - Uterine contractility - The Uterus and the Female "Passive-Active" - Women's corporeal consciousness and experience - Women's Experience of the Breasts - Women's Undesired Pregnancies and Women's Right to Abortion and see his Art of Menstruation

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