Common illnesses and chronic pain conditions can be triggered by human emotions, research shows.

Leading researchers now believe that human emotions can act as triggers for common illnesses like sciatica, Fibromyalgia, and other chronic pain conditions.

Studies have shown that stress and emotional problems can also contribute to chronic pain, in addition to physical injury. People who have experienced trauma and are afflicted with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in particular are frequently more likely to experience chronic pain.

Physical discomfort that persists longer than the body’s normal healing process is referred to as chronic pain. Injuries, inflammation, neuralgias, and neuropathies (nerve disorders) can all cause pain, but some people experience it even in the absence of these conditions.

The ability to move easily and interfere with daily activities can be severely hampered by chronic pain. Addiction to painkiller use can result from the search for relief, which makes the situation worse. In addition to feelings of helplessness, depression, and anxiety, chronic pain frequently goes hand in hand with such emotions.

Although many are already aware that emotional stress can cause headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, and stomachaches, they may not be aware that it can also result in other physical complaints and even chronic pain.

One rational explanation for this is that people who are anxious and stressed out tend to have muscles that are more tense and constricted, which over time leads to muscle fatigue and inefficiency.

Experts found in a 2010 study that going through a traumatic event can affect how pain manifests. In actuality, PTSD affects 15 to 30% of patients with chronic pain.

Most recently, Georgie Oldfield, who has been a physiotherapist since 1983 and is the founder and CEO of SIRPA, a business established in 2010 to train coaches and health professionals to assist people in addressing the underlying causes of chronic pain and other persistent symptoms, echoed the same statement to British media outlets.

The 62-year-old worked for the NHS for many years before quitting to work for herself, run her own business, and devote more of her time to helping people with pain.

Mrs. Oldfield spent years working with patients in both the public and private sectors who were unable to pinpoint a physical cause for their pain or ongoing health issues.

“It was not making sense that people were coming to me and going away pain-free and they still had a prolapsed disc, for example. Whereas for other people experiencing pain, they came with results from medical tests and scans, yet nothing could be found,” she told the Mail Online.

“When I left the NHS in 2005, I had more time to consider this. I was reading around and talking to colleagues and was questioning so much and then in 2007, I came across the work of Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine, Dr John Sarno in New York.”

She added that her hypothesis was that chronic pain was a mind-body condition with unresolved emotions manifesting as pain and other symptoms.

“The work SIRPA teaches is constantly evolving as pain science now explains why treating the underlying causes of chronic pain, rather than the pain itself, is more likely to allow pain to resolve, rather just managing it,” the Dr. said.

It’s critical to rule out physical causes of pain early on, such as cancer, infection, fracture, or an autoimmune disorder, she stated. It can be perplexing when a physical cause of the pain has been ruled out, particularly if an illness has suddenly appeared and interfered with daily activities.

But seemingly random pain is frequently associated with the awakening of suppressed emotions like fear, anger, and frustration. When these feelings begin to intensify to a breaking point, they may cause the nervous system to become oversensitive.

The body may then experience a variety of problems as a result, including tinnitus, fibromyalgia, whiplash, migraines, sciatica, and migraines. Lacking knowledge of modern science, the patient may believe their pain is physical and that something is wrong with their tissues, muscles, nerves, or bones.

They might even be told during a scan that they have wear and tear or a slipped disc, leading them to believe that this is the main cause of their confusion.

However, there is mounting evidence that people who claim to have no pain may actually have scans that reveal disc, joint, and arthritic issues, demonstrating that degeneration is simply a natural part of aging.

Emotional and physical pain are both ultimately managed by the same region of the brain. These findings faced criticism when the research was just getting started in 2007, but more data now back them up.

“We are affecting beliefs people have had for decades. However, we know the mind and the body are not separate and this is why part of our work is encouraging people to become more aware of what is happening in their body,” Oldfield said.