Pain is not an input from the body, it is an output from the brain!
Pain is always from the brain. Whether you have acute pain, due to an injury or accident, or chronic pain, it is generated by the brain. Pain is a danger signal. If you sprain your ankle, the brain generates pain to alert you that something is wrong, and that you need to rest. In the case of chronic pain, the danger signal is going off for the wrong reason.
Does that mean the pain is in my head?
This is where people assume that the pain is all in their heads. It is in the sense that it is generated by your brain, but the pain you feel in your body is very real. It is not imagined and you are not going crazy.
To learn more about this subject watch this short TEDx talk.
What this speaker shares about chronic pain, is also true for other chronic symptoms. The brain can cause symptoms in every part of your body via peptides and the autonomic nervous system. Stay tuned for more blog posts on this subject...
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