Page 87 - JCBP-3-2

Journal of Clinical and

Basic Psychosomatics

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
The mind-body connection: Sleep disruptions,

dream processes and their effect on
psychosomatic disorders

Leon Victor Ghiță* and Simona Valeria Clichici

Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine and
Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Abstract

Sleep is recognized as a crucial link between mental and physical health, bridging
the unconscious and conscious realms. However, the impact of both physiological
and pathological sleep on the progression of diseases with significant psychological
burdens, such as psychosomatic disorders, remains insufficiently understood. Gaining
a deeper understanding of this relationship would offer a more comprehensive
insight into both the physiology and pathophysiology of sleep, as well as the
mechanisms underlying the development and progression of psychosomatic
conditions. This knowledge could also guide the development of therapeutic
strategies aimed at enhancing the quality of life for patients affected by these
disorders. This review aimed to investigate the relationship between sleep, sleep
deprivation, and dreaming in relation to psychosomatic diseases, the dependency
*Corresponding author:
Leon Victor Ghiță relationships that can be established between these factors, and the medical and
(leon.vict.ghita@elearn.umfcluj.ro) psychological implications that the links found have in the assessment and treatment
Citation: Ghiță LV, Clichici SV. of patients. Using a broad PubMed database search, primary and secondary studies
The mind-body connection: Sleep were analyzed to understand how scientific research on this issue has evolved over
disruptions, dream processes time and what are the missing elements in this interconnected relationship. The
and their effect on psychosomatic
disorders. J Clin Basic Psychosom. study revealed that psychosomatic illnesses are complex, multifactorial conditions,
2025;3(2):81-92. strongly influenced by both normal and pathological sleep. It also highlighted that
doi: 10.36922/jcbp.4997 therapeutic interventions targeting sleep pathophysiology can alleviate patients’
Received: September 29, 2024 symptoms. In addition, the theoretical insights gained from this relationship serve
as an initial step toward a comprehensive understanding of the connection between
Revised: December 21, 2024
the mind and body.
Accepted: December 30, 2024
Published online: February 18, Keywords: Sleep; Sleep deprivation; Dreams; Psychosomatic disorders
2025
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution 1. Introduction
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, Sleep is a fundamental, periodic physiological process through which the balance
provided the original work is between different neuronal centers is restored and without which higher organisms
properly cited. could not survive. Although it does not have an unanimously accepted definition in
1
Publisher’s Note: AccScience the literature, the role of sleep in neuronal maturation, facilitation of learning and
Publishing remains neutral with memory, elimination of neuronal metabolic products accumulated throughout the
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional day, and its role in the maintenance and development of various cognitive processes
2-4
affiliations. is recognized. In humans, sleep has a particular structure and order of processes

Volume 3 Issue 2 (2025) 81 doi: 10.36922/jcbp.4997