I found this to be interesting. Perhaps you will too.

http://themindunleashed.org/2014/08/...-explains.html

“Pain feels like a fast stab wound to the heart. But then healing feels like the wind against your face when you are spreading your wings and flying through the air. We may not have wings growing out of our backs, but healing is the closest thing that will give us that wind against our faces.” ~C. Joybell

Do you remember growing up, going to the doctor’s office to get a vaccine shot —only to be crippled by the thought of having a sharp needle stuck in you? But for some strange reason, when your doctor took your attention off of the shot and onto whatever they were saying; the pain of the needle became unnoticeable. Now did the pain magically go away with your doctor’s kind words or is it that pain goes beyond just the physical sensation attached to it? Neuroscience is illustrating for the world, that perhaps pain is more bio-psychological than we had previously thought. In fact, pain is more in your head than you ever realized.

The Different Types of Pain Explained

We first need to understand that there are different types of pain and how we perceive them is varied as well. For example, there is a difference between tissue-damage pain and the pain associated with a broken heart. Both feel just as intense as the other, the major difference is the origin of the pain and how your neurons interpret the pain associated with the stimulus.

Edwin S. Shneidman PhD, founder of the American Association of Suicidology, explains that the majority of pain, even physical pain has its roots in the body’s need for help. Dr. Shneidman goes on to say that the sensation of pain is a combination of physiological processes and psychological needs. Needs such as the need for love, freedom, achievement or even the need to avoid embarrassment, shame, and harm.

Another element that contributes to how you feel pain and the reason we all experience it slightly differently, is which needs take priority within our personal lives. Harvard University Psychologist Henry Murray enlightened the psychological community by explaining that there are no concrete forms expressing the caliber of someone’s pain. The only legitimate method is by gauging someone’s reactions to pain and what they have to say about what they are feeling. Henry Murray goes on to say that this phenomenon occurs because each one of us rates our psychological needs differently. Meaning, what is the most important need for me (emotional need) may not be the most important need for you (financial need), thus the reason in differing levels of pain.

Another factor that plays into how you perceive pain is your childhood and the experiences of pain as a child. Think about it, if you had never experienced pain before, you would be devastated the first time you broke a bone because you wouldn’t have the gained wisdom on how to deal with said pain. The same happens if a child is exposed to pain consistently and then reinforced by a negative emotion. This leads to two different types of pain sensitizations.


Peripheral Sensitization

This type of pain sensitivity has to deal with the inflammation or damage to your bodily tissue. For example, when you get a cut on your finger, you are experiencing peripheral sensitization. During this process, there is a change in the transduction proteins, which are the carriers of messages that affect the nociceptors, or the receptors of your body’s sensory neurons. When you burn your finger, the stimulus is transformed into electrical signals which are then carried throughout your nervous system and up to your brain via these proteins.

Central Sensitization

During this type of pain something different happens in people: instead of originating from bodily harm, this pain can manifest itself without tissue damage. What happens is that the neurons in your central nervous system become excited more easily —resulting in feeling pain for much longer periods of time and much more easily. The pain that would normally subside after the initial stimulus still lingers around, eventually leading to chronic pain.

The Mind-Body Connection To Pain

Many doctors believe that disorders such as Fibromyalgia; where the patient has nothing physiologically wrong with them, can be tied back to central sensitization. I spoke with the former President of the Austin Pain Society, Dr. Brannon Frank, in order to better understand the mind and pain connection. After several discussions about single-case patients, Dr. Frank explained to me that the majority of his patients that come complaining of chronic stress usually begins with a life story.

Whereas athletes and other patients who have recently suffered tissue damage can immediately pinpoint the exact origin of pain and typically explain the situation behind the accident. Fibromyalgia patients and others suffering from chronic pain paint a picture of great emotional distress. Dr. Frank goes on to tell me that more often than not, the patients suffering from severe chronic pain, tell the story of their lives where they recently divorced, lost a loved one, or are undergoing severe depression.

This is a real life example of how pain is not just in the body, but in the mind of the beholder. So the next time you find yourself battling chronic pain or a bad back, before you run to your physical therapist — take a long and hard look at your life. Are you suffering from the loss of something valuable in your life or are you genuinely physically hurt? The answer won’t be easy or completely obvious, but I can tell you this much, how you react to the pain makes all the difference. It truly, may be all in your head.

To Learn More About Pain (References)

Journal of The American Physical Therapy Association: http://ptjournal.apta.org/content/91/5/700.long

US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7702468

US National Library of Medicine: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9188037

Karen Byfield | Mental Health Advocate (original publication)

About the Author

As an American Author and Research Psychologist, the two aspects in life I value most are: humanity and self-improvement. I make it my goal and life’s work to illuminate the secrets of the mind and our potential to every thirsty man and woman. For when given water to grow, we humans prosper. Aside from my love of moving the human spirit — I also research and rejoice in the fields of neuroscience, historical arts, and quantum mechanics.

Credits: Luis R. Valadez, Learning-Mind, Guest contributor.

Thanks for this Vrae. I am so so happy to see the kinds of research being put out there lately. And by there I mean here - Ground Zero - on these boards. Where it matters most. Where we help heal one another with every positive new thought and every post supporting one another in our darkest hour. I love you guys.

I have an answer to the question. The day before my brain injury I had no pain. the day after I had pain in places I didn't know existed and still do. so instead of pseudo scientists and doctors with two much time answering metaphysical questions, why don't they do some real research and get rid of my @#@#$ pain.

Perhaps physicians and scientific researchers have not been able to get rid of our pain BECAUSE OF a specific focus on purely physical causes and effects.

That being said - I know metaphysical crap like that rings hollow to you markneil1212 because metaphysical crap like that rang hollow to me too, for most of my life. I hope you find relief soon.

When I read this I thought it was pretty dismissive. I certainly understand there's a strong connection between mind and body and pain. But I'm a biochemist and I also understand some of the things they find in this disease that no mind control can right.

I have about 10-15 lbs of inflammatory edema in my entire right leg and upper pelvic region and I'm quite thin otherwise. I've tried all the mind stuff, things I also did before I got this disease, and it won't go away. No doctor I've been to has suggested such a thing. Every single one has taken it quite seriously and approached it entirely from a medical standpoint. Three phase nuclear bone scan shows the bone in my right leg is being eaten away (calcium reabsorbed by my body) and is consistent with CRPS type I. Bisphosphonate infusions similar to those from the recent study in Italy everybody is touting helped reverse that. My mind couldn't do that.

I'm one of the rare CRPS victims that doesn't actually have severe pain but I have every other symptom along with POTS and a firm diagnosis. So for those who do have a lot of pain, I feel for you. Try these techniques and I hope they can help you some, but as a medical person there's no doubt in my mind there is a true physiologic process going on that your mind can't completely control no matter what this guy says. I'm glad it's helped some people but I don't think its the answer for everybody. JMHO.

Thanks again for the great links ,is so confusing ,so many studies saying rsd is mostly on our heads or autoimmune ,gets everyone I guess living in a puzzle that have still a missing piece.
Will add the links to my journal and hope to learn much more about all new studies outer ,always being educating about the conditions we suffer make such a difference and we can even tell a dr when we disagree or agree ,make thinks get real and we are not longer trying to guess what dr are doing to us as long as we know was the purpose and if in any way will be beneficial at all,before we didn't have that chance to take decisions ,now educations gave us the power to say yes dr do it or no dr I don't agree,now we can do that with facts behind.
Nice researches and truly appreciate all the time you guys take to teaches us something new and update what we know so far.
Gentle hugs and lots love ,from Jesika .

Please let me be clear. Not for one minute am I trying to say that RSD / CRPS pain is "in your head" and not something that is real. Trust me, after living this nightmare for a decade, I know first hand just how very real this disease and the pain it brings is. Nor am I suggesting that all the mind control in the world could alleviate all the pain I feel. However, when I have been able to get my mind into a better more peaceful, tranquil state and it has helped to control my pain. So do I personally believe in mind over matter.. sure, but only because it has worked for me personally. Is it the end all be all.. of course not. Anyway, I do not believe that the folks who wrote this had RSD / CRPS in mind. In no way am I trying to minimize ANYTHING you may be feeling. Like I said when I posted it originally, I thought it was interesting. That is all. My intention was never to offend anyone by posting this.

Vrae, I hope you don't think I was offended by you or your posting of the article. Not at all. I think all credible information is useful and worthy of reading and incorporating into our minds to try to make sense of this disease and what might help in each personal case.

I was simply expressing my view on the overall theme of the article. There was good information in there. I just feel for all those I read about on forums who've been told this is in their minds and haven't gotten the care they needed. I'm luckily not one of those people, probably because I had fairly dramatic physical proof and they kept at it until they found what was wrong. I just get so upset to read of others who've been made to feel like it's their fault or in their minds and not had the care they should've gotten early on. So maybe I over-reacted but I still thought the overall tone was a bit dismissive. Sorry.

I see your point.

Hola CDWall. I'd also like to accept a portion of the responsibility for any perceived dissension in this thread by the trend-setting of my first over the top response to Vrae's original posting. Although you and Vrae have already provided clarity at this point that there isn't much dissension, just an eloquent expression of individual viewpoints.

As individual viewpoints go, in my own personal experience, the medical field in general is simply behind the 8-ball. And "formalized" research, due to preferential funding by government entities and pharmaceutical companies, is highly restricted in what it can and cannot address. Can I "prove" this? No. But logical analysis points me to this conclusion. And to me, this conclusion is all the more disturbing within a culture where medical professionals are often put on pedestals - after all, that's what they're PAID to do! Heal us!!

When I first realized I was dealing with RSD/CRPS, I was fortunate as well. I had two medical professionals within my extended family I was able to talk to for both support and further conceptualization. At the same time, I scoured thousands upon thousands of abstracts and articles. I had two apps on my iPhone - Medline and Medscape - and I buried my face in it for months. The single largest commonality over everything I read... was that CRPS/RSD is "not currently understood."

From what I researched and what I experienced going to several specialist centers including a teaching hospital, the initial treatment for RSD/CRPS is essentially a) drugs b) nerve blocks c) referrals for some kind of physical/occupational/counseling therapy. And granted - all of these CAN be of benefit in addressing the symptoms! For example, narcotics had an impact early on for me so I used that window of reduced pain for further personal experimentation and research. My mind and spirit could have been out of commission without that brief window.

But at that point, I felt Google and personal experimentation was the only choice I had left. Because of that same lack of needed care that you're referring to, CDWall, people are backed into a corner. It's awful - it feels like there's no one you can trust, not even yourself.

From there I focused my research on individual case studies and anecdotes from people who had managed to transcend chronic and "incurable" diseases. I was also fortunate to have come across several individuals who had fully recovered from RSD/CRPS, and incorporated their thoughts and comments into my own healing regimen.

My intent in this personal anecdote is just to highlight the fact that I'm NOT a touchy feely person by nature. I'm a test and repeat SHOW ME THE EVIDENCE type of person. I'd change one or two variables at a time and give the results time to manifest before full evaluation on any benefit or lack thereof. I was openminded because I had to be - because whether it was my fault or not, the fact was that everything I'd lived up to that point had brought me to this thing called the "suicide disease."

Science in and of itself is awesome! At it's pure level, it's the study of cause and effect. My issue with the current version accepted by the general public is that, in following the cause and effect trail, it is evident to me that the information is either withheld or distorted.

That is why articles like these (while admittedly somewhat shallow and SHORT on any actual methodology) get me revved up - because they're one step closer to the Big Picture. So I'm sorry too.

But the discussion is good - thank you guys.