Headaches, stomach problems… turn out to be very common in doctors’ offices. At this time, psychology joins medicine and they build a whole that manages to explain the cause of part of these pains that affect a large part of the population without any apparent physical cause.

Mental and physical health are indivisible , they are coordinated and if there is an imbalance 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. Doctors often encounter this situation and observe first-hand how an intense headache is related to family problems, at work … and consider how to treat it since there is no evidence of physical cause.

John E. Sarno has been interested in this topic and has gone into the issues relevant to the mind’s use of pain. In a complicated situation, the human being prefers physical pain to facing such emotion.

It all starts with the brain . It generates pains that have no organic cause for people to pay attention to their body, thus diverting attention from the repressed subconscious. Dr. Sarno’s theory proposes that when the repressed subconscious is recognized, the 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 carry out this treatment?

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

First, the patient is asked what he thinks is the source of this emotion. Allowing him to express himself is essential to this awareness. The person will share how they feel and the therapist will accompany them in this process. However, the recognition of emotions is not as simple as it seems.

How do we recognize our emotions?

These are several guidelines to reconcile us with what we feel.

1. Recognize the feeling

To be able to detect the physiological impact of that emotion . Such as: tension in the neck

2. The answer that generates my emotion

As we know, emotions have an adaptive function . Identifying what arouses this emotion in us is basic.

3. Identify the primary emotion

All moods are based on a primary emotion such as anger, sadness etc

4. Identify emotions combined with primary emotion

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

Let us reflect

We should pay more attention to our body , get to know each other better and express our feelings in a regular way. Society should not be ashamed of suffering emotional pain. The stigma that exists with regard to mental health will not disappear by talking about solutions, but by carrying them out. Let us stop being afraid, let us act and promote human well-being.

Author: Andrea Martínez Pellicer.

Bibliographic references:

  • Bisquerra, J. and Pérez, N. (2007). Emotional competencies. Educación 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 complaints. Editorial Sirio: Madrid.