You Hurt My Feelings - Emotional Pain Equals Physical Pain

“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” Nothing could be further from the truth and holding onto this concept is damaging. Research has shown that emotional pain is processed in overlapping circuits in the brain, and the physiological response is the same.

Thoughts and concepts are sensory input and emotions are the sensations generated by your body’s physiological makeup. Anxiety is an activated threat response and relaxed is what you feel when you are safe. There are many strategies to process threats in a manner to decrease your levels of stress chemicals and move on.  

Emotional wounds are not visible to the body but expressed by the nervous system by either thinking about what was done to us and/or when the nervous system senses danger or threat that resembles the original occurrence from the smallest hurts to the small traumas to the large trauma experience. The symptoms are diffuse and can affect any part of your body. 

Understanding the nature of your body’s unconscious reactions to real or perceived threats is the first step in dealing with them.

Find ways to go pain free without surgery with David Hanscom, MD

Find out more about Les Aria Ph.D. Pain Psychologist here

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