Locus of control and learned helplessness phenomenon in patients with chronic somatic diseases

The article discloses the concept of locus of control (or the level of subjective control), the phenomenon of learned helplessness in the framework of psychosomatic medicine, and their impact on the efficacy of treatment process. The data on the impact of these factors on the daily living and emotional state of patients, their interpersonal and social relationships, the reasons for the formation of learned helplessness are listed. The alternative methods of psycho-physiological treatment for emotional and behavioral disorders in psychosomatic diseases, in particular the effectiveness of biofeedback therapy in different types of physical pathology, which opens up the possibility of the patient to implement self-regulation mechanisms are presented. Biofeedback is a practically single psycho-physiological evidence-based method of alternative medicine and it is regarded as a branch of behavioral therapy, which aims not only to regulate the psycho-physiological state, but also to shift the external locus of control to the inside. During the application of biofeedback, the authors developed “functional system of self-regulation” which ensures its perfect result. Biofeedback is the process of achieving a greater patients' awareness of many physiological functions of their bodies, primarily with the use of tools that provide them with information on their activities, in order to obtain the possibility to manage the systems of their body. The probable mechanism of therapeutic action is the cognitive effect of biofeedback experiences, learning skills of self-control which patients had never experienced before. The faith of the patient in his ability to control the symptoms of the disease is considered as a critical value, not a degree of measurable physiological changes.