Can The Brain Control Physical Pain?

Pain is an individual and subjective indicator that something is wrong inside our bodies. It can have a huge impact on our well-being and can affect our daily lives. The brain is responsible for identifying and processing physical pain, so it is important to understand how our brain perceives and analyzes it.

In the brain, there are well-defined areas that are responsible for our perception of pain. Many of the body’s diseases are actually related to the brain and can be affected by mental attitude and emotions. Conversely, mental activities can also counteract pain, including relaxation and breathing exercises, music therapy and biofeedback.

“They are not cured of their diseases. It is their illnesses that will cure them ”

-Carl Jung-

Characteristics of emotional pain

Studies indicate that people with greater acceptance of pain are less worried and show fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression. The most important part of these studies is that the level of pain acceptance does not depend on the intensity of the pain. This means that people do not have more acceptance if they have less pain.

Acceptance involves having contact with unpleasant or painful experiences without it having a major impact on one’s behavior.

Suffering is a part of us. We must accept suffering as something normal in certain cases. That does not mean we have to surrender to catastrophism, which is the thinking that pain is chronic.

“When you are sick, instead of hating the disease, see it as your teacher.”

–Alejandro Jodorowsky–

Physical pain and the brain

According to a researcher at the University of California, Patricia Churchland, the mind is what the brain creates. It has a huge impact on health. The brain, ideas and emotions affect our physical health d since there is always a psychological aspect to any disease.

Dr. Sarn, a professor of rehabilitation medicine at New York University School of Medicine, confirms that the brain generates pain that has no natural cause. It does so that we notice our bodies and thereby direct attention to “suppressed emotional tensions.” When we recognize the emotional tensions we suppress, the symptoms of the physical illness will subside.

A study from Stanford University shows that brain exercise can reduce pain without medication. While this may not work for everyone, the technique may lead to new medical treatments. In this process, the patient sees parts of the brain associated with physical pain directly using magnetic resonance.

The study shows that under certain circumstances it is possible to “dominate” our brain activity. We can also control the intensity of the disease we feel without medication. The technique opens up new avenues of pristine medical treatments, though it must be said that it does not work on everyone.

The combination of willingness to accept physical pain and proper mental training are key factors in reducing the impact of pain on our lives. Maybe we can not make it disappear, but by using our brain we can beat it.