Psychosomatic Shift

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A psychosomatic shift refers to when a physical trait is acquired by the body when certain headmates front. This may include allergies, strength of senses, and more.

Psychosomatic shift may increase or decrease any physical trait or experiences.

Mechanism
While a system shares a collective body that has certain physical and physiological traits, many physical functions of the body are regulated by certain brain activity. This includes metabolism, regulation of sensory input, response to stimuli or substances, hormone levels, and more. A headmate's presence may influence such regulatory functions to result in a change in physiological presentation.

For example, a system's eyes may be shaped in a way that is associated with near-sightedness, but different headmates may influence the brain while fronting so that it compensates for that near-sightedness to different degrees, resulting in headmates requiring different prescriptions for glasses.

Such regulatory changes may also occur in singlets, as can be observed with different levels of eyesight depending on time of day, stress, exhaustion, etc. For singlets and systems both, these variations are limited to the span the brain can feasible regulate in any direction, and for systems certain levels of regulation may be consistent for specific headmates, leading to different expressions of symptoms.

Related Terms
Psychosomatic shift may be experienced by, for example, parabled headmates, those with exolimbs, symptom holders, or cassmates.

History
Psychosomatic, psychogenic, or functional effects are physical effects and experiences that are caused by or originate from a mental processes. This includes perception and symptoms not tied to an organic cause, and also physical effects like hormonal changes or digestive behaviour that are physical in nature but have a mental origin. Psychogenic issues like stomach ulcers caused by stress may still present as or result in physical organic illnesses. Functional illnesses may also present with the same symptoms as their organic counterpart while lacking the associated physical mechanism.

Psychosomatic medical issues are distinct from faking, imagining, or over-interpreting symptoms. They may or may not respond to physiological treatment methods and should be treated by a professional, most often by or in cooperation with a psychiatrist or psychosomatic specialist. (Citation needed to treatment guidelines)