How are Chronic Pain and Mental Health Connected?
Do you ever notice you get a stomach ache before a tense meeting at work? Or maybe you get a headache after a fight with a family member? Have you ever wondered what comes first: stress or body aches?
Trauma or high-pressure situations can lead to nagging pains like headaches, TMJ pain, digestive issues or chest tightness. On the other hand, pain can result in feelings of depression, anxiety and hopelessness, especially if the pain persists for months or years, and interferes with your sleep, work and/or recreation.
Body-Mind Connection
Our minds and bodies are intricately tied together, and are always communicating under the surface at lightning speed. I’m sure all of us have experienced the immediate reactions in our bodies when we feel distress or fear. If you hear a strange noise in your house late at night, your heart starts beating faster, your breath becomes shallow, and/or you “freeze” as you listen and look around for the source of the noise. This is the “fight-or-flight” response of your autonomic nervous system, reacting to any signs of danger. When there is conflict and you feel angry or indignant, you might feel tension or clenching in your jaw or other muscles. When you’re down and discouraged, you will feel drained of all your energy, and simple tasks feel overwhelming. This is the “collapse” that occurs when you can’t use fight or flight responses to escape an overwhelming situation.
Chronic stressors can result in both somatic complaints (e.g., pain, indigestion, insomnia) and mood disorders. On the other hand, chronic pain can understandably lead to depression or anxiety, when your body does not allow you to relax and do all the things you want or need to do. You feel out of control, and can’t escape constant discomfort. Studies show that 35-45% of people with chronic pain report feeling depressed.
Our nervous systems are wired to respond to threat so quickly, that we don’t even have time to think about it. But how do you find your way out of these automatic responses when they become maladaptive?
There are many simple and inexpensive ways to train your body to find more equilibrium. Meditation, relaxation techniques (visualization, contract/relax muscles), exercise, a healthy diet and good sleep hygiene are all important lifestyle choices. Talking to a trusted friend or therapist can help lighten the burden of what you’re going through, when you are struggling with emotional stressors.
Listening to Your Body’s Messages
Somatic therapy is another way to help you to slow down and listen to your body’s cues and messages. Louise Hay, in her book “Heal Your Body”, lists some possible emotional connections to bodily ailments, as well as underlying thought processes or beliefs that may be contributing to a symptom. For instance, jaw problems can be tied to anger or resentment, stomach issues can be related to fear of taking in something “new” (to assimilate), constipation can mean fear of letting go of old ideas.
Of course, these are merely suggestions based on Louise Hay’s observations. What is more important is what resonates with you. Of course there are many physiological reasons for pains and other somatic complaints as well. I’m not suggesting that all our physical symptoms are merely reflections of some emotional strain.
But our bodies are always giving us messages, and our bodies are inextricably tied to our thoughts and emotions. So it might be worth your while to slow down and listen. Especially if there is some symptom that seems mysterious and came up “out of nowhere”, and doctors can find no physiological cause. Or maybe you find yourself repeatedly having similar injuries or accidents.
For instance, I was working three part-time jobs after being laid off during a recession, and did not realize how stressed I was until I experienced a few minor injuries, which was very unusual for me. I joked to my friends that I needed to plan a vacation before I ended up in the hospital. Then five days before the trip I had planned, I was hit by a bicyclist as I was riding my bike in my neighborhood. I broke three bones in my foot. Later my counselor said to me, “Don’t you remember saying to me, ‘What do I have to do to slow down…break my leg?!’” I did not even recall making that statement! As frustrated as I was by this disruption to my life, I slowly began to realize that it forced me to slow down, and that is really what I needed.
Another example of how our bodies can communicate some inner struggle is in times of grief or loss. I have had a few clients who showed up in my office with back pain, headaches or an injury that occurred as they were cleaning out a parent’s house after the parent’s recent death. What was interesting is that there were often unresolved emotional or relational issues in the family that came to light during our treatments. Sometimes there were family secrets or betrayals or something that wasn’t really talked about in the family, but was left for this person to “carry” forward. Just shining a light on these hidden emotional elements is the beginning of being able to release and process old wounds, and allow your body to return to a state of homeostasis.
Finding More Ease in Your Body
Somatic therapy can help you to make these connections, both in terms of gaining insight, but also to allow your body to be part of the “conversation”. Our bodies hold an infinite amount of wisdom about what we need to feel whole and in balance. We are so used to simply ignoring these messages in our busy lives, or we are conditioned to take a pill to make the pain go away.
If you are curious about how pains or discomforts in your body may be messengers, carrying important information about your inner emotional life, as well as old physical injuries, consider how somatic therapy can help. Somatic Experiencing and craniosacral therapy both are gentle ways to help your nervous system release old traumas naturally, to give you some understanding of what you’ve been carrying, and to allow your body and mind to return to a state of ease.
Click here for more information on chronic pain therapy.