We have all heard about the woefully closed-minded doctors who believe Fibromyalgia is just a symptom of depression. Research proves that depression doesn’t cause the pain of Fibromyalgia, but there is an undeniable emotional component to the condition. Which came first, the chicken or the egg – Fibromyalgia or emotional distress? I like to believe I was an emotionally stable person on the day I broke the toilet with my head and began my descent into Fibromyalgia hell, but if I am truthful with myself, I was not/am not as strong as I like to believe. So does the fact that I try to control my emotions instead of deal with and process them make me more susceptible to Fibromyalgia? Good question!
Yesterday I participated in a very emotional support group meeting. We had an unusually small group which allowed for more personal and intimate conversation. It was not a depressing meeting, but instead it was a discovery into how traumatic events in our lives feed and contribute to the pain of Fibromyalgia. I struggled all evening after the meeting trying to process what was shared, and I am struggling as I sit here trying to write this post. Where do I begin to explore the connection between emotional trauma and pain? There is so clearly a connection. Can any of us ever be symptom free without fully exploring and coming to terms with our emotional traumas? What is the best way to do that? Therapy, meditation, EFT, hypnosis, writing, art, diet, exercise, drugs? I clearly do not have the answers and my head has been pounding with the pain of trying to figure it out.
I am feeling some responsibility as a support group leader to look for answers to this question and provide resources to my members so they can begin to heal their emotional wounds. So, anyone out there have any answers? Is this starting to sound like a cry for help and guidance? I think maybe it is! The thing about Fibromyalgia that makes it so hard to treat and so hard to explain is that even though we all share many of the same physical symptoms, the emotional component means that no two of us experience it in the same way. I store my abandonment issues in the muscles of my upper back, but she stores her traumatic and failed marriage in her shoulders, and he stores his 10 years in a violent job in his chest. Not only do we all store our pain differently, but we process it differently, and we respond to treatment differently. While writing helps me process, painting helps her, and singing helps him. Is your mind spinning now too? What do you do that helps you cope and process? And which came first, the pain or the emotion? Anyone?
That is a tough question! I can only comment on which came first for me personally. Since my depression and anxiety were preexisting before the fibromyalgia appeared, they obviously came first. However, I can say that the fibro definitely compromised my ability to “ward off” depressive and anxious feelings. For the first 6 months of so of my diagnosis I was definitely in a darker place, and now there is a marked difference in my personality and mood level when I’m in a flare and when I’m not. I also believe that there must be some biological link, serotonin or some other brain chemical, since it’s SSRI’s that most help my IBS and mental health symptoms, and stress and lack of sleep seems to trigger flares.
Other than meds, cognitive behavioral therapy is hands down the best tool I have in my arsenal for combatting stress. Being aware of my emotional state is key in my ability to take a step back and move into a more rational state of mind. Meditation, deep breathing, and knowing when to take a step back also help me. I’m also reading up on Buddhism and the philosophy of mindfulness seems to be very calming to me. Talking about it, and whenever possible laughing about it. And blogging of course, cause I feel like I can vent all I want without becoming that person whining about pain to everyone. Accepting that this is a part of me, impacts my life, but I still have control over how I react to it. “This too shall pass” is one of my favorite mantras when I’m in pain.
I’m going through an entirely similar thought process myself at the moment and, I think the key missing element, in my case, could be Complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD). In a nutshell, generic predisposition, plus bullying parents and this was the psychological injury that resulted and triggered the fibromyalgia. We’re bound to have emotional issues, both from the cause and from the fibromyalgia (and not being treated seriously, etc.), but I do feel that our emotional traumas are an injury not illness in our case and came with and after the pain, not before and causing it.
I absolutely agree with emotional traumas being an “injury.” How or if we recover from those injuries determines whether or not they causes an illness. In my case, although I am a very emotional person, I believe that any emotional trauma was dealt with in a healthy manner and recovery was complete. Any emotional distress following the onset of my fibromyalgia pain was surely unrelated to my earlier emotional traumas. My onset of fibromyalgia I now believe occurred when I was about 19, although I had no idea at the time. It worsened with age and I believe was exacerbated by physical traumas and diseases, to the point where I recognized that I needed help in attemping to control it and rather than let it control me. I am just beginning to understand it, but being very strong willed (some might say stubborn but I say determined), I will eventually repel this attack and retake control of my life.
I had my first panic attack six months after I’d been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia…I was in my doctor’s office. Convenient for me, not so much for her! I’d been anxious before, but never so much as until the fibro got hold of me.
In the past I have had two acute depressive periods (once when my husband died when I was 22 and again when I made some really bad choices with horrendous results at 30) and therapists have suggested that I have chronic depression.
None of the antidepressants have helped with depression or pain, in fact Cymbalta made me an angry old lady according to my kids!! So my theory is that what they think is depression is just my personality and I have to work (exercise! good food! meditation! It all works well when I do it consistently.) to keep it at bay.
So do the emotions come first and then the pain? I agree with Pamela. The emotions are injuries that add to the illness. If my emotions caused this pain then that would mean I have a “pain personality”. Is there such a thing? Or is this just sloppy thinking on my part?
In my experieince the unresolved emotions can weaken the body/mind leading to other problems.
This is the ultimate question with Fibromyalgia isn’t it? I appreciate Dr. Shores short and sweet response and I agree with it fully. This is the part of humanity that is so tricky, not being able to study us in a controlled environment, some questions will always linger.
Had I never experienced emotional trauma in my life or childhood would I have fallen prey to Fibromyalgia after my exceptionally difficult pregnancy? There is no way to know for certain. The pregnancy that preceded the development of Fibromyalgia was so taxing on my body, it is not surprising that it had a long term effect on me. But knowing myself as I do, and knowing the trauma from my past, I think I would have been better equipped to handle that stress on my body if I was more emotionally healthy prior to the pregnancy. So, like what Pamela said above, I was emotionally injured, leaving me more vulnerable to this illness at the time I developed the symptoms.
Have we solved the riddle or do we just have more questions now? 🙂
When I think about growing older, I think about growing wiser and more mature emotionally. However, what I see is that many people as they accumulate emotional baggage is that they become more emotionally dysfunctional. So I guess the trick is to learn to unload for your self. I have used Emotional Freedom Technique along with other techniques on myself and others with great success. If you go to http://www.emofree.com there is a free download that gives you everything you need to use EFT.