When you are in physical danger, like let’s say getting into a street fight, you react with what many people refer to as the “flight or fight response” or “sympathetic response”.
(The above image describes two opposing systems in your body. The “parasympathetic nervous system” or “rest and digest” and the “sympathetic nervous system” or “fight or flight”.)
What people don’t realize is that this “fight or flight” response gets activated during times of emotional stress as well. Think about the last time you were watching a scary movie with cheap jump scares or the last time you had a heated argument. So even if you aren’t actually in physical danger, like while watching a movie, just THINKING and BELIEVING you’re in trouble can affect your “fight or flight” response.
The thing is this sympathetic response is meant to be a quick burst of protective energy to get you to safety and then you should be able to calm down into the parasympathetic response when you’re safe again. It’s actually good to stress your system in this way to build tolerance and prepare you for any possible challenges that may arise.
Let’s say you’re constantly getting stressed out at work and your boss gives you shit every day. On top of that and even worse, when you’re not at work, you’re constantly WORRIED about the stress at work and your boss giving you shit every day. Now your system never has a chance to calm down into the rest and digest response. Your body is constantly in a fight or flight response.
(Side note: being in a constant state of stress affects every system in your body. That’s why it’s pretty common for people in a chronic stress situation to complain of digestion issues, like constipation, or insomnia. These are a part of the rest and digest system which doesn’t work right in a chronic stress situation)
In this state, your body releases adrenaline and cortisol, these chemicals can directly increase the sensitivity of the danger messengers in your nervous system. That means that you are getting extra straws that are making it easier to break the camel’s back. So, if you’re really stressed at work, when you just bend over and suddenly your back hurts, it doesn’t mean you injured your back. It just means that you were so close to the edge of feeling a threat, that all you needed to push you over and into the painful experience, was to simply bend over. There were so many factors that came together that resulted in you feeling pain. It just so happened that bending over was the last factor but I wouldn’t say it was the direct cause of your pain.
You can compare it to how some fights in the home start. You wake up late for work, you’re stuck in traffic on the way to work, you step in shit as your walking to the office, your boss yells at you about something you have no control over, and you get in traffic on the way home. Now all of a sudden, as soon as you step into the house, your wife asks you to take out the garbage or your husband asks you to make dinner and you LOSE IT ON THEM. You get into a huge screaming match, bring up old fights, start throwing dishes.
Now, what made you lose it and cause a fight? It wasn’t that one request from your partner. It was everything coming together to bring you over the edge. It was you not being able to tolerate the stresses of life. That’s how you work and that’s how pain works.
It can be any thoughts, beliefs or experiences that increase your stress level that can affect your pain. Even your thoughts, beliefs and experiences ABOUT YOUR PAIN can increase your current pain and lead to a chronic pain state:
going to multiple doctors with many different opinions about why you’re in pain,
getting all these tests that don’t give you a “diagnosis” and a “reason” for your pain,
seeing someone you know go through the same thing you did and end up in a wheelchair.
All of these can increase the stress you feel and make it more likely for you to feel pain and lead you to a chronic pain state.
This is a big reason why I want everyone to understand how pain works. If you understand how pain works, you won’t be as scared or stressed about it, you’ll know what to do and your stress levels won’t increase the chance of you feeling pain. It’ll make it less likely to leave you with a chronic pain issue.
Know Pain Physio 