psychosomatic
involving both mind and body
Roots
- psych / psyche: mind, soul, or mental life
- soma / somatic: body, bodily, or physical life
Other words with the psych / psyche root
- psyche: mind or inner self
- psychological: relating to the mind or mental life
- psychology: study of mind and behavior
Other words with the soma / somatic root
- somatic: relating to the body or physical life
Psych gives mind and soma gives body. Psychosomatic symptoms show the two talking to each other.
Her stomach pain was psychosomatic: the stress was real, and so was the body response.
Psychosomatic does not mean imaginary. It means mind and body are tangled together: stress, expectation, pressure, and the body all answering each other.