Emotion and illness

[Lady4]

These are just a few extracts from "How Emotions are Made" by Lisa Feldman Barrett, Professor of Psychology (my holiday read, loving this book).

How and why do so many people experience ongoing pain when their bodies appear to have no physical damage?

To answer that question, think about what would happen if your brain issued unnecessary predictions of pain and then ignored *prediction error to the contrary. You would genuinely experience pain for no discernable reason. Your brain is ignoring sensory input maintaining thats its predictions are reality.

Scientists now consider chronic pain to be a brain disease with its roots in inflammation. It is possible that the brain of a chronic pain sufferer received intense nocieptive input sometime in the past, and as the injury healed**, the brain didn't get the menu. It is also possible that predictions about inner-body movements are turning up the volume for nocieptive input as it heads from the body to the brain.

* Our brains predict something before we are aware of it even happening. The example used is "catching a ball", your brain launches predictions before it even sees the ball, using your past experience (going through millions of prediction loops). Your brain then compares the simulations to actual sensory input. If they match ... success! The prediction is correct, and the sensory input proceeds into your brain. Your body is now prepared to catch the ball, and your movement is based on your prediction. Finally you see the ball and you catch it.

Now if the prediction isn't particularly good, they are based on simulations of a catch you hope to make (as you haven't a clue how to play, no past experience) when they get compared to the information you actually receive from the outside world, they do not match, this is prediction error. The brain then adusts its earlier prediction so that you can catch the ball (in theory). The entire prediction loop process (predict, simulate, compare, resolve errors) repeats, predicting and correcting many times (happening in milliseconds) until eventually become aware of the ball sailing past your outstretched arm and you catch the ball.

** similar to phantom limb syndrome

There is also a medical condition called complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) , in which pain from an injury spreads inexplicably to other areas of the body, which appears to be linked to bad nociceptive predictions.

Your brain is always predicting, and its most important mission is predicting your body's energy needs, so you can stay alive and well.

[MONIREN]

That is an interesting concept, I've always felt that when I was too focused on myself, my pain was worse. Changing focus is difficult. What comes first the focus or the pain? Like, when I'm in pain and our grandchildren come over, too busy to focus on myself, until they leave. How I do love them coming on a whim, instead of waiting for me. I personally would find that a difficult book to read. Thank you keeping it simple. Take care. Moni

[Lady4 in reply to MONIREN]

Hi, to me it makes sense because its starts by telling us that everything we learn from birth is a concept and the concepts develop as we are introduced to the world around us. The author gives this example:

"Infants are born unable to see faces. They have no perceptual concept of "face" and so are experimentally blind. They quickly learn to see human faces, however, from perceptual regularities alone, two eyes up top, a nose in the middle, and a mouth."

It goes on to say that they learn sounds and touch (ie build on these concepts) to create the concept of "mother" - I can't find the actual para to enter word for word but hopefully you get the gist.

I saw an interesting video when my son was first diagnosed and it showed how we all see the world differently. As you can imagine there is so much visual stimulation that we see (the same can be said for other senses) that we only focus on what matters to us. I tried to find it a while back but couldn't find its source.

[Lady4 in reply to MONIREN]

I guess in answer to your question probably the focus, as you mentioned if you have an external focus, like the unplanned visit, so don't even give the pain a second thought, possibly because all of all the other additional sensory input. Hearing their laughter (and yours), seeing your grand childrens smiling faces, touch (cuddles giving you that warm interoceptive feeling), maybe even a familiar smell (freshly washed hair).

[eviedotty]

this sounds like the old fashioned concept of distraction which I can totally go with but even with this and using CBT therapy there is a need to engage the brain as it were due to the concept that on paper a certain activity should be ok and not cause pain but then you cautiously proceed due to getting your life back to normal so to speak and then you are successful and its a celebration etc but then actually no because 24 hours later you are flat out in bed with the pain and have to go back to the brain to figure out how you are going to get back to coping with the pain. In short its very complex and I would go so far as to say very difficult to simplify. I am coping with this at the moment so its personal experience I base this explanation on…..went to church in my wheelchair after recovering from injury thinking I am healed enough now to do this….first gear and slowly I am successful and celebrate as it was so good to catch up with friends etc…..spent Monday in bed and crashed so hard and so quickly I was shocked but pleasantly surprised to see things balance back out to a coping level again. I now sit here seven days later pondering if another go is worth it given we are so close to Christmas with the family etc and this is were the brain is now wagering with the body

[Lady4]

I guess it depends on how hard you partied, what injury your body has recovered from as to why you crashed so badly. It does seem like, albeit the after effects , you have worked with your body to get back to normal (or a new normal).

Maybe you just pushed your body too much and your brain just stepped in to protect itself.

Christmas is a busy time and we just need to pace ourselves and keep our bodies in check (regulated). try not to become too overwhelmed and don't be too proud to ask for help if struggling. Could you catch up with friends between Christmas and New Year?