Science-Backed Research and Evidence for Complete System Recovery
Understanding the science behind chronic pain and its symptoms to recover is crucial. We need to have a model of understanding to influence our brain differently than how it was influenced in the past.
As you read through these documents, keep an open mind, and see if any of this sounds familiar. As you take in this information, the brain is also registering it, and it will be the beginning of your journey to complete recovery.
Understanding Mind-Body Syndrome Development
Our brains are designed to keep us safe. Its primary function is to learn from its environment and store that information as a memory in the subconscious. When we are children, this function is at its most influential, and any information becomes the foundation for our personality and how we relate to the world.
Naturally, we learn most of this information from our parents and caregivers. And because we are children, most of it goes right past the conscious part of our brain into the subconscious and unconscious levels. We cannot apply any rational discernment to this information at that time. As we grow older, this information about how to get by and stay safe is how we live.
All humans have a mind-body connection. When the brain perceives danger on any level, we feel it in our bodies. We may feel it in our stomach or get a dry mouth when nervous. This is how the brain informs us of potential danger in the environment.
The brain can also perceive danger in its internal state, such as emotionally. If it learns that certain emotions are dangerous, such as anger or sadness, it will attempt to repress those emotions. But if the repression becomes severe enough, and the outer environment warrants the emotion, the brain may send a symptom, or pain, as a distraction.
If our lives are stressful, and we aren’t able to take care of our internal state, the brain may also see this as dangerous. As a response, it will activate the sympathetic nervous system, an alarm system designed to get us to safety. If the outer or internal stressors continue, and that fight-or-flight- system stays on, the brain will send a pain message to the body to warn us. Either way, chronic symptoms are a message from the brain that there is danger on some level. It is a wake-up call.
Childhood stress primes the brain to react with fear and resentment/anger. This is the beginning of sensitization, or the anticipation of danger.
Teen and adult stress triggers those same reactions, which hard-wire the danger perceptions.
Personality traits lead to increased pressure we put on ourselves in order to stay safe.
The sub-conscious brain controls our bodies, and the above reactions trigger the danger signal in the sub-conscious brain, which leads to conscious messages of danger in the form of symptoms. We may remember symptoms from our childhood.
MBS symptoms are real, but not tissue damage situations. They occur due to the activation of the danger signal (amygdala), which activates the autonomic nervous system to activate the fight or flight and freeze to submit a response.
These cause muscle activation, neurological activation, GI (gastrointestinal) and GU (genito-urinary) activation, and others, which lead directly to MBS symptoms.
These symptoms create more activation of the danger response, and a vicious cycle of learned neural pathways occurs which creates the chronic condition.
These symptoms are increased with more focus, worry, attention to the symptoms, and more stress. MBS symptoms can become more severe than an injury because they are meant to get our attention.
Triggers cause the brain to activate symptoms, such as foods, light, activities, movements, etc. the brain then associates these triggers as a cause of symptoms.
The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) activates a pause and plan response, which counteracts the danger response. There is a gap that allows us to interject a new neural-circuitry to recover.
How Symptoms Become Chronic
Once the brain has sent a danger message, how we respond to it is how it maintains or turns it off.
Worry about it, Focus on it, pay great attention to it, monitor it
Fight it and give it power by hating it
Be frustrated by it so that it annoys you greatly
Try to figure it out; expend much energy determining what is causing it.
Try to fix it; work hard at making it go away.
This teaches the brain (the learning function!) that the symptoms are now dangerous. This perpetuates the whole cycle of perceived danger. Once the brain becomes afraid of the symptoms, we must use a multi-faceted recovery approach.
Teaching the brain messages of safety is the way back to recovery. We may need to teach the brain that the symptoms are safe first. Then we may need to show the brain that healthy emotions are safe and learn to be kind and compassionate to ourselves while these emotions are happening. We may need to see how our lives have influenced our relationship to ourselves so that we may begin to lower the brain’s perception of danger when there isn’t any.
Personality Traits of MBS
These traits are a commonality among most of us with Mind-body Syndrome. It is also interesting to note that these traits are also what modern society values in successful people. We can almost say that modern society developed these traits in many of us so that we could succeed in life. But Mind-Body patients developed these traits to stay safe.
Perfectionism. The patient is wary of any negativity or other human frailties in themselves and will usually pressure themselves not to be that way.
Self-Pressure. The patient puts endless pressure on themselves to get things done, fit in, get it right, change, be strong, get over it, etc.
People-pleasing, The patient worries about what others think, which puts more pressure on themselves. The patient is also continually guessing what others think, which alters reality and makes life difficult. Patients with high-profile positions will develop this trait as a means to succeed.
Fixation. The patient wants to fix: symptoms, self, life.
Emotional-Repression. Because the patient is a perfectionist, he/she tends to deny parts of themselves that feel inadequate, thus repressing things like anger, fear, and/or grief.
Emotional Repression is one of the biggest causes of chronic symptoms.
Caregivers. Many patients tend to deny their own self-nourishing to help others. This can lead to resentment later and a denial of Self-love.
Holds onto grudges. Patients with mind-body have neural pathways that are looking out for danger. As a result, they hold onto memories of people hurting them because it might happen again. These are stored as memories that form thought patterns, and if there is self-pressure, the thoughts cause the patient to resist them or fight them.
Recovery From Mind Body Symptoms
There are as many different Mind-Body symptoms as you can imagine. Most Mind-Body symptoms have been medicalized so that if you go to a doctor, you will get a diagnosis, making you believe you have a structural problem.
But because Mind-body symptoms behave differently than structural problems, they aren’t difficult to diagnose. Most people with knowledge of Mind-body can easily diagnose it as such.
You may have already been to a medical doctor if you have symptoms. Depending on your symptoms, they will probably order tests, either imaging or blood work.
If they order imaging, and some wear and tear are showing up on the image, the doctor will probably point to that and tell you that this is the cause of your pain. But because doctors are never (!) trained in pain science, they are just making a guess! If you have normal wear and tear in your imaging, it does not mean the wear and tear (normal abnormalities) caused your pain. Most people with normal wear and tear have no pain.
The most important things we want to rule out when treating chronic symptoms are Cancer, Injury, and Infection. Once we rule those out, we can treat the chronic symptoms with a mind-body approach.
Here is a partial list of potential Mind-Body symptoms; many of these are 100% Mind-Body:
IBS
Insomnia
Neuropathy
Excema
Muscular-Skeletal (back pain is 95% MBS)
Dizziness
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Fibromyalgia (100% MBS)
Migraines
Tinnitus
Allergies
Anxiety
Depression
Tooth pain (TMS)
Pelvic pain
Urinary frequency
Long Covid
POTS
Pudendal Neuralgia
Interstitial Cystitis
Ankylosing Spondylitis
Food Sensitivities
Constipation
Asthma
