Chronic Pain is an Emotion

We have more and more research showing that chronic pain involves the emotional centers of the brain. We also know anxiety, stress, depression, PTSD, trauma, all can cause somatic symptoms in the body. Chronic pain that does not have a structural cause is more likely to be emotional than physical. The definition of pain is a: “sensory and emotional experience with or without tissue damage.” Typically acute pain is more sensory and comes with tissue damage while chronic pain is more emotional and has no tissue damage.
Study link: https://www.cell.com/neuron/pdf/S0896…
Reach out if you need help on getting out of the loop of chronic pain. You can find me at
https://www.thepainpt.com
Work With Jim
Jim Prussack, MPT, MMT
Jim Prussack MPT, MMT is a licensed physical therapist and chronic somatic symptom coach who has been treating pain and other somatic symptoms for over 20 years. He specializes in chronic pain and chronic health issues using a brain and nervous system approach.