What is Emotional Pain?

Psychological pain, or emotional pain, is an unpleasant feeling (a suffering) of a psychological, non-physical, origin.

A pioneer in the field of suicidology, Edwin S. Shneidman, described it as “how much you hurt as a human being. It is mental suffering; mental torment.” There is no shortage in the many ways psychological pain is referred to, and using a different word usually reflects an emphasis on a particular aspect of mind life.

Technical terms for emotional pain include algopsychalia and psychalgia, but it may also be called mental pain, depression, emotional pain, psychic pain, social pain, spiritual or soul pain, or suffering. While these clearly are not equivalent terms, one systematic comparison of theories and models of psychological pain, psychic pain, emotional pain, and suffering concluded that each describe the same profoundly unpleasant feeling.

Other descriptions of psychological pain are “a wide range of subjective experiences characterized as an awareness of negative changes in the self and in its functions accompanied by negative feelings”, and “a diffuse subjective experience.” Emotional pain can be differentiated from physical pain which is often localized and associated with noxious physical stimuli”, and “a lasting, unsustainable, and unpleasant feeling resulting from negative appraisal of an inability or deficiency of the self.”

Is Emotional Pain a Recognized Healthcare Concern?

Yes. “Emotional pain” is a recognized concept, and research indicates a significant link between emotional experiences and the perception of physical pain, meaning that strong negative emotions can amplify the feeling of physical pain, and vice versa; this connection is often studied in the context of chronic pain management and mental health research.

Psychological pain is believed to be an inescapable aspect of human existence. Unfortunately, physcholigical distress can be caused by TMJ disfunction and vice versa.

“Clinical and experimental studies show that even a simple psychological manipulation, such as distraction, can have a powerful effect on our perception of pain3. Our emotional state also has an enormous influence on pain; a negative emotional state increases pain, whereas a positive state lowers pain. Not surprisingly, complex emotional states such as empathy, which incorporate emotional and cognitive factors, alter the way an individual feels pain.” – Cognitive and emotional control of pain and its disruption in chronic pain

Can emotional pain cause physical pain?

Yes, emotional pain can cause very real physical pain. The human brain processes both types of pain in similar ways, which is why it may cause confusion. When experiencing intense emotions like stress, anxiety, or grief; this phenomenon is often referred to as the “mind-body connection. What you think and feel does impact your physical body.

What types of Physical Manifestation may Occur from Emotional Pain?

This manifestion is often found to limit the human jaw’s function.

Emotional pain may leading to:

• Jaw muscle tension.
• Tension headaches.
• Clenching teeth from stress.
• Stomach aches.
• Neck pain from jaw tightness.
• TMJ.

Important things to know about emotional pain and physical pain:

Brain activity overlap: Medical studies signal that the areas of the brain activated when experiencing physical pain also overlap with those activated during emotional pain, explaining why they can feel similar.

Muscle tension: If you feel stressed or anxious, you head, neck and jaw muscles can tense up, leading to aches and pains in the neck, shoulders, and back.

Somatic symptoms: Physical symptoms like headaches, nausea, jaw pain, stomach upset, and fatigue can be expressions of emotional distress.

Impairments to Chronic Pain Extend to Emotional Pain

There is growing evidence that the impairments observed in patients with chronic pain go beyond the pain itself. These patients also experience changes across cognitive and emotional domains, and similar changes are found in preclinical models of chronic pain. For example, patients with fibromyalgia are less able to retain new information when rehearsal is prevented by a distraction than healthy controls.

We also know that human brain regions that are altered in patients going through chronic pain are among those that are activated during the tasks in which patients perform poorly. Isolation and loneliness also contribute to pain.

If cognitive and emotional factors can activate modulatory circuitry in brain regions showing anatomical changes due to chronic pain, can psychological treatments reverse brain changes associated with chronic pain? Yes, we believe so. Although there is some research available to date, more is needed. Cognitive behavioural therapy has been shown to increase pain-evoked neural activation.

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NOTE: Image was generated with Grok