THE EMOTION QUOTIENT

If pain is the end product, the beginning is the emotion. Both are related all the way from their very inception. The perception of pain is highly individualistic. One more thing that is as individualistic is emotion. It is a secret that one can try and unfold by means of scans and lab experiments but at the end of the day what an emotion/emotions have triggered or what they lead to, is unknown.

There are a gazillion chemicals playing around in our bodies all the time. They never tire out. They work incessantly, tirelessly. They are broken, remade. Broken again. We cannot see them. We replicate them in labs. Assign virtues to each but when at work they simply exist and work without our knowledge. Sometimes unfortunately and unknowingly, we burden them.

Emotions are like these chemicals. They work alright. Can't be touched or felt. They make their way around quietly. Some of these we feel but avoid, and some we feel but suppress. We do not let them be. This is trouble. These emotions wind up deep inside, so deep that they start burdening our chemicals. Breaking them. Pushing them around till they decide to leave their true path and wander off elsewhere. Take a new role and a new position. This new being of theirs is something we start feeling. The line between emotion and physical expression gets blurred. They come in different forms. Both mental and physical. One of these physical aspects is chronic pain.

Multiple studies over the years have made some connections. How our emotional well-being can affect certain physical aspects of our life. Sometimes when we hold up these emotions, we also end up holding our bodies. The muscles get tired of being held tight. You get tired. Fatigue sets in. It is not always the muscles that are being used. It could be muscles that have probably the function of just holding one's body upright. Backache. These aches and pains are so random that they may not even make sense. Jaw pains, stomach aches, knee pain, and headaches are just some of them. Sometimes we do find a pathology behind them, which needs to be treated. It also happens that the extent of the pathology may not correlate with the intensity of the pain. There may be other factors contributing to it. Overburdening of these factors may actually suggest an emotional component.

It is essential not only to express these emotions but also to acknowledge them. The more they are suppressed the more they confuse the brain chemicals. They may take different forms of expression that may not be in a league of a pain-free life. So, how does one recognize this pattern? How do you go about it? Disclosure of this emotional status is something that may help. Disclosure in the form of writing, or talking to a therapist, does help. What also helps is understanding and acknowledging that this probably is the cause of the physical disturbance being endured. Being true to one's emotions is a sign of great strength. Hiding or suppressing these emotions will take its toll. Knowledge, acceptance, and working to redo the emotional damage will help.