WHAT DOES YOUR BRAIN HAVE TO DO WITH PAIN?

After spending the last few months studying intergenerational trauma and the last 23+ years treating patients in pain, it has never been more concrete in my belief that there is NO separation of the mind-body or body-mind continuum.

People that live with pain know very well the emotional experience that goes along with it. The fear of movement can create a looping emotional PTSD and the over sensitization of the nervous system can create phantom physical sensations that continue the loop.

Healing from physical trauma and the steps to resolution of emotional trauma are very similar. They share two things in common.

The brain.
The nervous system.

This is how “stress” (physical pain or emotional pain) is processed and stored:

The amygdala (the emotional brain) sends signals to activate the ANS: autonomic nervous system (which flips the fight/flight/freeze responses).
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The ANS then picks up the signal from the brain and can trigger acute spasms and physiological systems anywhere in the body…especially targeting our “weakest links”
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The pre frontal lobe contains an area that gets lit up when emotions become high and it turns off an area of the brain that controls and regulates pain.
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So, you can see that anxiety, fear, sadness, grief, PTSD, unresolved painful memories, family distress, past health conditions and so many more emotional stressors can cause the brain (Oz behind the curtain) to directly effect our physical experiences.
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Comment below if you have ever noticed that laughter can decrease your pain? Or if you are in the presence of someone you love and feel safe with, your discomfort eases. Have you made the body-mind / mind-body connection in your life? If so, how?