The connection between mind and body is not as mystical as many might think. In the same way that when some part of us hurts we can be angry or sad because of it, the inverse relationship also exists.
Our emotional state influences the severity and number of physical symptoms we can manifest, whether or not they are related to a real physical illness. Depression, stress and, especially, anxiety, can worsen our physical health.
Of all the ailments we can feel, Can anxiety cause muscle pain? Below we will see the answer.
It is known that the mind and body are connected bidirectionally. Mental and physical health influence each other and, when one is altered, it is a matter of time before the other is equally harmed, even if we are not aware of it. For example, when we break a leg, the pain will cause sadness, nervousness and anger and, even if we already have it in a cast, it will be inevitable that we will feel frustrated at not being able to walk as usual for a long time.
The inverse relationship also exists. If our mood is altered, our physical health will be harmed sooner or later. If we are depressed or worried our physical health will suffer, mainly weakening the immune system, making us more predisposed to falling ill. By having a low mood, our body also sees its ability to respond to pathogens reduced.
But while depression is a relatively common problem, it is not as common as anxiety. We can define anxiety as a mental state in which the person experiences high restlessness, intense excitement and extreme insecurity. It is a response mechanism of the body in the face of a situation perceived as dangerous for both physical and mental integrity, preparing us to emit flight or fight behavior.
Anxiety is an innate response that we cannot get rid of, nor is it advisable to pathologize it at the slightest that it appears. Even so, at high levels it induces problems in the body, becoming a pathology that damages both our mental and physical health. In anxiety disorders, this emotion, far from activating us to face a threat that can harm us, becomes a threat in itself.
Psychosomatization, anxiety and muscle pain
Psychosomatic diseases are those physical ailments whose cause is related to a psychological problem. It is believed that almost 12% of the European population suffers from this type of discomfort. and it has been hypothesized that for a quarter of the people who go to primary care services, suffering from muscle pain and other physical ailments, their real problem is in the mind. Given how common anxiety is, it is not surprising that it is the main psychological problem that explains these cases.
A person is considered to suffer from somatization when they present one or more physical symptoms and, after undergoing a medical examination, these symptoms cannot be explained by a known medical pathology or, if so, the symptoms and their consequences. They are too serious compared to a typical picture of that disease. The severity of the symptoms and the uncertainty of not knowing where they come from causes great discomfort in different areas of your life.
Muscle pain is a very common problem in the population. In the majority of cases in which the cause is psychological, those affected go to medical services several times. Due to the saturation of medical services and how difficult it is to diagnose muscle pain caused by anxiety at first glance, professionals prescribe painkillers, focusing only on the physical symptoms of the disease.
When we say that muscle pain can be caused by anxiety, we are not saying that the person necessarily has childhood trauma or an anxiety disorder, which has caused their physical problem. This person could perfectly well be suffering from anxiety on a daily basis and not even realize it. By delving deeper into her daily life and analyzing what her day-to-day life is like, we can see that she is subject to small episodes of anxiety that, although seemingly harmless and tiny, when accumulated can psychosomatize into back pain.
On other occasions, doctors When they see that they cannot find a physical cause that explains these pains, they understand that there could be an anxiety problem behind it and they know that they should refer the patient to a psychologist. The problem is that on many occasions the patients themselves deny having anxiety problems, considering that this is either a bad diagnosis by the doctor or they do not understand very well what relationship there may be between anxiety and muscle pain.
Why don’t we go to the psychologist when our back hurts?
This question may seem very obvious at first. Logic makes us think that if we have back pain it must be due, by necessity, to a physical problem. Human beings, when faced with a problem, tend to look for solutions that share the same nature, and in the case of physical health it is very evident. If we have muscle problems, we look for a doctor specialized in this type of pain, and if we have stomach problems, one specialized in the digestive tract.
We like to think that a problem is going to be solved with something that is related to it. This is why, when going to a medical consultation the professional tells the patient that perhaps her problem is due to a psychological problem, the person is somewhat skeptical. “How can a psychologist solve my back pain? Are you sure it’s not due to a blow or bad posture? What is anxiety going to have to do with my back hurting?” the patient will ask, very surprised.
Although much progress has been made in making the population stop seeing psychologists as those who treat people who are “crazy”, there are many people who have deeply internalized the idea that going to one of them is confirming that They themselves are “sick in the head.” Because they are afraid that the psychologist will find something they do not want to know, many of these patients turn to alternative therapies, distrusting doctors and fearing psychologists, who believe that they will do little to alleviate their disabling muscle pain.
So that It is not unusual to find hundreds of people suffering from muscle pain who say they have tried everything. : acupuncture, Bach flowers, homeopathy, osteopathy, reiki, meditation, all types of massages… They believe that these practices are less invasive than conventional medicine and more effective than psychology. Conventional medicine and psychology are based on scientifically proven methods, and although their degree of intervention is more invasive than many of these practices, it is also much more effective.
Furthermore, a criticism of all these practices, in most cases pseudoscientific, is that, although they claim to distance themselves from conventional medicine, they do agree with it in the fact that they focus on physical symptoms, not on Psychological problems behind muscle pain. Conventional medicine does this by prescribing painkillers, anxiolytics, or other pain-focused substances, while the aforementioned practices do it with techniques that do absolutely nothing (e.g., reiki).
Currently, Both behavioral medicine and health psychology know and try to delve deeper into the mind-body relationship. That is why they treat the individual from a broader perspective, taking into account how biological, psychological and social factors influence the appearance, maintenance and resolution of all types of physical problems.
