Gastritis psychosomatics

What psychosomatics says

In psychosomatics, the stomach is about what you can or can’t “digest.” Gastritis is linked to anger that has nowhere to go: someone invades your territory, and you put up with it.

Your mother-in-law rearranges things in your kitchen and tells you how to live. Your colleagues break agreements, and your boss acts as if everything is fine. You’re made to give in, and you do, while everything inside you is boiling.

Sometimes behind it there’s an old phrase like “you’re a failure” that you heard as a child. A new situation touches it, and your stomach reacts again. Psychosomatics helps you see where your boundaries are and who is crossing them.

What it is

The inside of your stomach is covered with a lining. It protects the stomach wall from the acid you need to digest food. When this lining gets inflamed, doctors call it gastritis. It can be acute, lasting a few days, or chronic, dragging on for years.

The main cause of chronic gastritis is a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori. According to the Russian Ministry of Health clinical guidelines (2024), in recent years it has been found in about 39% of adults who had never been treated for it. According to the clinical protocol of the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan (2017), in the most common, superficial type of gastritis the Helicobacter test comes back positive in about 90% of cases. The lining is also irritated by painkillers like ibuprofen and aspirin, and by alcohol, and sometimes the inflammation is triggered by your own immune system.

Gastritis doesn’t always hurt. The same Russian Ministry of Health guidelines say that inflammation of the lining often causes no symptoms at all, while burning and heaviness in the upper stomach can happen without it. Doctors themselves write that the diagnosis of “gastritis” is given very broadly.

The only way to see exactly what’s going on with the lining is a gastroscopy with a biopsy. Helicobacter is checked with a breath test, a stool test or during a gastroscopy. If the bacterium is found, the doctor prescribes a course of treatment and checks 4–6 weeks later whether it’s gone.

How it shows up

• Pain or burning in the upper stomach, just below the ribs
• Heaviness and fullness after eating, you get full quickly
• Nausea, sometimes vomiting
• Bloating and burping
• Loss of appetite
• Often there are no signs at all

A general practitioner or gastroenterologist examines you. If stomach pain lasts longer than a week, keeps coming back or you’re losing weight for no reason, don’t put off the visit.