Psychosomatic Disorders: A Buddhist Psychological Perspective

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered a global mental health crisis, leading to widespread psychological distress and long-term impacts, as highlighted by the WHO on World Mental Health Day 2022. Beyond the pandemic, increasing life pressures and traumatic experiences further elevate the risk of mental disorders, particularly psychosomatic conditions where psychological factors affect physical health. This study aims to examine the psychological factors contributing to psychosomatic disorders and explore their management through a Buddhist psychology approach. Employing qualitative methods, the research involved ten participants from diverse religious, ethnic, cultural, educational, and professional backgrounds. Findings indicate that, from a Buddhist psychological perspective, psychosomatic disorders are largely rooted in unhealthy mental states. These are characterized by 16 forms of unwholesome consciousness (citta), primarily driven by greed (lobha), hatred (dosa), and delusion (moha), which can lead to misperceptions (saññ?-vipall?sa) and cognitive distortions. The study identifies two key processes in the development of these disorders: the mental process (citta-v?thi) and the physical process (r?pa-v?thi), with unhealthy thoughts shown to negatively affect bodily health. Buddhist psychotherapy addresses these disorders through an integrated approach involving ethical conduct (s?la) as behavioral therapy, mental concentration (sam?dhi) as psychological therapy, and wisdom (paññ?) as cognitive therapy. The application of this framework has demonstrated positive outcomes in improving physical, psychological, and social well-being. These results suggest that Buddhist psychotherapy offers an effective and holistic alternative for managing psychosomatic disorders.