The great enigma of emotions and physical pain

Behind the discomfort and physical pain, there may be an emotional disturbance.

Headaches, stomach problems... are very common in doctors' offices. At this point, psychology joins medicine and builds a whole that manages to explain the cause of some of these pains that affect a large part of the population without apparent physical cause.

Mental and physical health are indivisible.They are coordinated and if an imbalance exists in one of the two, the other is affected.

What influence does the mind have on pain?

Many kinds of Pain are diagnosed as tension myositis syndrome, and the cause is in the mind. Commonly, doctors come across this situation and observe firsthand. how a severe headache is related to problems in the family, at work, at work... and how to treat it since there is no evidence of a physical cause.

John E. Sarno has been interested in this subject and has delved into the issues relevant to the mind's use of pain. Faced with a complicated situation, the human being prefers physical pain to face this emotion.

It all starts with the brain.. The brain generates pain that has no organic cause so that people pay attention to their body, thus diverting attention from the repressed subconscious. Dr. Sarno's theory proposes that when the repressed subconscious is recognized, symptoms decrease. In this way, we would be "indicating" to our brain that we already know the cause of this pain and that it no longer has to cover it up.

How does Dr. Sarno perform this treatment?

This kind of alterations are treated through education and learning, in which the patient is an active and conscious subject of what is happening to him/her. the patient is an active and conscious subject of what is happening to him/her and puts in place and implements conscious strategies in order to heal and make the pain disappear.

First of all, the patient is asked what he/she believes to be the origin of this emotion. Letting him/her express him/herself is essential for this awareness. The person will share how he/she feels and the therapist will accompany him/her in this process. However, the recognition of emotions is not as simple as it seems.

How to recognize our emotions?

Here are some guidelines to reconcile ourselves with what we feel.

1. Recognize the feeling

Be able to detect the physiological impact of the emotion. For example: tension in the neck

2. The response that the emotion generates in me

As we all know, emotions have an adaptive function. To identify what awakens this emotion in us is basic.

3. To identify the primary emotion

All the states of mind start from the base of a primary emotion as the anger, the sadness etc.

4. Identify emotions combined with the primary emotion

This requires a deeper process of introspection. We may be afraid to go into this reflection which is essential in the process of improvement.

Let us reflect

We must pay more attention to our bodyWe should know ourselves better and express our feelings on a regular basis. Society should not be ashamed of suffering from emotional pain. The stigma that exists regarding mental health will not disappear by talking about solutions, but by carrying them out. Let's stop being afraid, let's act and promote human wellbeing.

Author: Andrea Martínez Pellicer.

Bibliographical references:

• Bisquerra, J. and Pérez, N. (2007). Emotional competencies. Education XXI, 10, 61-82.
• Lambie, J. A. and Marcel, A. J. (2002). Consciousness and the varieties of emotional experience: A theoretical framework. Psychological Review, 109, 219-259.
• Sarno, J. (2006). Healing the body, eliminating pain: a definitive treatment for psychosomatic ailments. Editorial Sirio: Madrid.