Is your pain associated with your emotions?

Low back pain is the leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting millions of people. In thinking about ways to treat people suffering with this debilitating condition, Jennifer Taitz, a licensed clinical psychologist based in New York City, is focusing on the mind-body connection, which might offer the patients a new hope, the Fox News reported.

One of her clients, Shari, presented in treatment to learn mindfulness to help her manage her chronic back pain stemming from a gymnastics injury as a teenager. She enthusiastically tried breathing exercises and approaching her pain in a new way. 

One day, Shari mentioned she was livid with her mother and found herself in a screaming match with her earlier in the day. That same day, her pain was more palpable. Initially reluctant, Shari eventually was willing to experiment with tracking her pain and anger and noticing how the two experiences correlated.

According to research by Dr. John Burns at Rush University Medical Center, pushing away anger doesn’t lead to relief, it leads to more suffering. In a study, Burns and his colleagues looked at chronic low back pain among participants in an experiment. The participants were asked to work on a computer maze while being interrupted by an annoying presence and instructed not show any signs of anger or talk about how they felt. In a second condition, participants were able to talk about their frustrations. The researchers looked at muscle tension, blood pressure, and heart rate. Interestingly, suppression was associated with higher levels of muscle tension and pain. 

If you struggle with pain and anger, in addition to learning to cope with your pain, you might also consider thinking through emotionally intelligent ways to manage anger.  Here are a few tips to consider:

1. Notice your emotions

The first step toward managing emotions is taking a moment to notice what you are feeling and how intensely you experience the emotion. For example, if you notice you are angry, try to rank your anger on a scale of 0 (least angry) to 10.

2. Notice your thoughts

Often, we habitually believe anything and everything that we think. If you feel angry based on a potentially faulty interpretation, you might manage how you feel by changing what you think.  If your anger stems from the conclusion that your boss deliberately omitted to thank you after a big presentation, you might take a moment to consider other possible explanations for the oversight.  Possibly concluding, “She was stressed and mindless,” as opposed to, “This is an abusive work environment.” 

3. Talk about how you feel

 When you’re angry for good reason, instead of holding it in your body, come up with an emotionally intelligent way to communicate your feelings.