Physical symptom, no medical cause

Dear Dr. P,

I am a European living and working here in Korea. My husband and I sold our house and gave up our jobs a couple of years ago to train as career missionaries. I have a “food intolerance issue” which is part of me almost 100 percent of the time — now. It started a couple of years ago when I moved into community living and could not choose the food I ate which often is not as healthy as I’d like because of costs. My symptoms (burning stomach, acid reflex, excess mucus, etc) became worse and worse over the next 18 months as we travelled to North America for training then here in Korea.

However, my tests in Europe revealed nothing sinister and my doctor told me to remove all offending foods. Then I left the country early last year. I am reassured that there is “nothing” wrong and aim to fix myself through prayer and a healthy lifestyle. However I still get a lot of reflux daily and wonder if there are psychological issues and whether I could do anything else for myself or whether you could recommend a doctor here in Korea.

The symptoms also cause me to lose sleep a few times a week and today I have been awake since 4 a.m. — my stomach was churning and gurgling but not painful, although it is tender to touch. I thought this was normal my husband assures me that his is not at all tender. I also had an excess reflex every time I moved or turned over. Do you have any suggestions or recommendations?

Dear sender,

Body and mind may seem to be separated, but in fact, both of them have an intense relationship and are interrelated with each other. Therefore, you may feel uncomfortable when your body is in a bad condition, and this condition can be worsened when you have emotional stress in your mind.

If you had medical test in Europe and there was nothing wrong, your physical symptoms may be coming from your emotional stresses. I think you need to review the causes more carefully, because your symptoms started after you decided to sell your house and give up your jobs to become missionaries.

If your physical symptoms actually originate from the psychological stresses, you have to deal with the emotional stresses in order to improve your physical condition. The gastric reflex symptom is like the leaf of tree and the psychological stress is like the root of tree. If you try to deal with the leaf and not the root, your physical symptoms will not improve at all. I would like to recommend you to consult a psychiatrist to understand the root of your emotional problems first.

Hi, I am relatively new to Korea. I live in the southern part of the peninsula, much closer to Busan than to Seoul. I would like to see someone about possibly being evaluated for anti-depressive medications. I could travel to Seoul or to Busan also. My concern is that the coming winter and the newness of the environment will induce depression, and I would like to be proactive about keeping that from happening.

Any advice you might have would be really helpful.

If you are taking medicine for your depression, I recommend you to continue taking it until your depression has completely lifted. Skype sessions are available, when it is difficult for you to come to Seoul.

There are many reports about depression worsening during the winter season. The reason is that the vitamin D, which is an important factor to prevent depression, can be deficient due to the lack of sunlight. Proper exercise is also helpful for your depression, but outside activity becomes less in wintertime. So it is important for you to go outside and take a walk or go to the gym for regular exercises. There are wonderful beaches in Busan such as Haeundae beach, so enjoy going for a walk on the beach during the daytime.

Loneliness in an unfamiliar environment may worsen your depression too, so try to make friends, and if possible, having a boyfriend or a girlfriend can be a good solution. Having a religion is also helpful for your emotional stability and social activities.

Take care of yourself.

Park Jin-seng is a psychiatrist who runs a clinic for foreigners in Seoul and operates personal therapist forums on www.lifeinkorea.com. Please submit questions for Park to mdoctor@korea.com or call the hotline at 02-563-0678.