What term describes mind-body illnesses linked to stress, such as hypertension?

• A. Psychophysiological illness
• B. Psychogenic illness
• C. Somatic symptom disorder
• D. Illness anxiety disorder

Answer: (A)

Stress can influence physical health through the mind–body connection, where emotional states contribute to the development or worsening of real medical conditions. The term that describes illnesses linked to psychological factors like stress is psychophysiological illness. It captures how stress and related psychological processes can affect physiological systems, leading to or intensifying problems such as hypertension, headaches, ulcers, and asthma. In hypertension, for example, chronic stress can raise blood pressure and increase risk, showing that psychological factors play a role in a physical condition with a genuine biological basis. By contrast, psychogenic illness refers to symptoms that arise primarily from psychological factors with little or no underlying organic cause; somatic symptom disorder centers on excessive worry about physical symptoms themselves; illness anxiety disorder involves fear of having a serious illness despite minimal symptoms.