is pain mental or physical?

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The pain is physical. The pain can lead to mental effects as well. Many people suffer from depression after they have trouble sleeping and they also have problems with sleepiness and drowsiness all the time.

I agree with your post to my original thread. It is a physical disease but, the mental anguish caused by fibro can cause many mental problems for many of us. Depression is the number one dual diagnosis with our disease. So many lose faith because of the pain and depression that they may ever lead a normal life.
 
According to the Mayo Clinic the pain is not physical, But very real. Pain is a electrical signal that the brain receives and therefor makes us hurt, People with fibro are hypersensitive and many electrical signals that are not pain signals are perceived by the brain as pain. So even though you didn't hit your knee with a hammer any sensation can be perceived that way in your brain. They showed me pictures of someones brain EKG with out fibro, where they pricked this persons finger with a needle and there was a small red spot that lit up in the Pain center of the brain. Then they showed me the EKG of someone with fibro getting poked with a needle and almost 50 percent of the brain lit up red with activity, parts of the brain that we don't even know about received the signal. So to me it is not a physical problem or a mental problem, but a brain and central nervous system problem, it's not something we have conscious control over. It can get better though, for me trying to remove the stress out of my life and getting good sleep has helped a noticeable amount.
 
I watched a video on You Tube yesterday of a lecture by Daniel Clauw, MD of the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center at the University of Michigan. He has been one of the key researchers for fibromyalgia. While the center got funding from pharmaceutical companies to test Cymbalta and Lyrica, don't dismiss the info in the video if you don't want to go the drug route. It speaks to what the Mayo Clinic told links56 about the brain and what they are discovering about chronic pain and fibromyalgia. I found it made a great deal of sense for me, given my journey. Whether you agree with his treatment choices or not, the brain science and research may give you hope that there may be something, someday, that might provide real relief. The title is Chronic Pain - Is It All in Their Head.
 
They may not know what causes it but potentially knowing what is going on and having it make sense helped me feel alot better. The fact that these major research hospitals and university's have a theory and are researching this, Proves that it is not in our mental mind, we're not crazy and the amount of people with the same symptoms aren't either. 20 million people aren't crazy, or lazy and that number is increasing daily.
 
Those are some very great points. It is amazing that they do not know what the cause is but, that really does tell us that it is not mental. But, the pain and suffering that we go through can cause us mental issues. Depression as many of us have stated is the big thing.
 
I sometimes think my pain could be a bit mental, at least made worse by stress and my negative thoughts. Sometimes negative thoughts do invade my mind and that's when I have more pain. I was getting a lot neck and head pain recently mostly due stress. I know other pains in my body aren't caused or made worse by my mind, but it's known stress can make things way worse.
 
Is the pain of Fibro mental or physical in your opinion? I beleive this is a great topic and, people can benefit from talking about it. Ill post later if it takes off.

I think it's both, although I strongly believe that if you try to divert your mind into something else, you may start to feel that pain is much less. The mind is so powerful that if you really focus on the fact that you are feeling pain, the more that the pain feels so much bigger.

That's why I think psychotherapy may be a good option towards alleviating pain.
 
According to the Mayo Clinic the pain is not physical, But very real. Pain is a electrical signal that the brain receives and therefor makes us hurt, People with fibro are hypersensitive and many electrical signals that are not pain signals are perceived by the brain as pain. So even though you didn't hit your knee with a hammer any sensation can be perceived that way in your brain. They showed me pictures of someones brain EKG with out fibro, where they pricked this persons finger with a needle and there was a small red spot that lit up in the Pain center of the brain. Then they showed me the EKG of someone with fibro getting poked with a needle and almost 50 percent of the brain lit up red with activity, parts of the brain that we don't even know about received the signal. So to me it is not a physical problem or a mental problem, but a brain and central nervous system problem, it's not something we have conscious control over. It can get better though, for me trying to remove the stress out of my life and getting good sleep has helped a noticeable amount.

Interesting. Been living most of my life, but I never quite understood what pain really was, I had heard about those electrical impulses, but I had never heard such a good explanation! Thanks for explaining it so well, it's really interesting!
 
No problem, I'm glad to help and be in this community. Everything we see or do is all electrical impulses. It's really crazy when you think about it. We actually only see a very small spectrum of light, so just imagine all the things we don't see! I also learned at mayo about depression and fatigue. It's a vicious cycle we get into. For me I think it was the pain that started the cycle, then because the pain I couldn't sleep, because I couldn't sleep I felt very tired like a zombie, because I was tired like a zombie I didn't accomplish anything or stayed in bed all day, Because I stayed in bed and did nothing all day I got depressed, because I got depressed I lost all motivation to do anything at all, So then I would just sit all day and be in pain with nothing to distract myself from the pain so it became worse which made my sleep worse and so on and so forth.
 
I am posting this picture from doctor Sponagules website. Just for visual aid. You can see the electrical pain signal difference between the healthy brain and the Fibro brain.
 

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I would have to answer that with another question: What came first? The chicken or the egg? :)
We are body, mind and soul. One being. If you cut your finger and think it is just a little scratch, even though you are bleeding profusely, then the pain will probably be a lot less than if you are panicking about it, worried about infections or having to go to hospital for stitches. Pain is pain, but with the help of your mind you can increase or decrease its intensity.
 
Its amazing all the facts this thread has generated it is exactly what I was hoping for when I posted the original post. I had a bad battle with my fibro over the past two weeks and that is why I have not been around. It makea me feel better to read all these posts. It gives us hope that we can get through this.
 
I really believe that the pain is both physical and mental for Fibromyalgia. I have tried for several years to decide which one it was, or if it was indeed both that played a part in the pain that I feel. After researching many articles and watching my own symptoms, I really do think that it's both because when your in a negative place mentally, it will affect you physically. Basically, the physical pain is being caused by a lot of the emotional issues that you might be going through as well as the other symptoms that you have to deal with. It can also be triggered by traumatic events such as a car accident, or even a mental trauma that you may have experienced at some point in your life. I believe in my core that your physical and mental will always go together in all that you do. Depression is a big part of Fibromyalgia and of course it will affect how you are feeling physically as well. The same is true of all diseases, if you have a negative attitude about it, it will only makes things worse. The best thing to do is to stay positive and lead a healthy lifestyle.
 
I really think that what you all say is true. I wish I could have worded it better in my previous post, but now I have a better idea of how to do that, so thank you! I do believe that it's a central nervous system problem and not necessarily mental or physical. I have also heard that it is supposedly somewhat genetic as well. My entire family has central nervous system issues and all but one of them is on medications to help with those conditions. I do think too that it is triggered by many things including trauma. I myself have had a lot of trauma and car accidents that have made my physicality even more fragile, particularly as I get older. I am also going through menopause and that seems to increase a lot of my symptoms too. I also wanted to say that I am so happy to see so many posts with all of the great knowledge and suggestions that you all have for everyone. Thank you very much for being my support systems!
 
hai, i am newbie, I am wanna know more about that. when i get muscle pain my mom use to tell me to take hot bath and it help a lot. That method won't work for Fibromyalgia or what ? i am sincerely looking for an answer
 
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