Are you under pressure? If so, it might be ruining your posture and causing deep discomfort. Most people are unaware that stress and other negative emotional experiences can manifest as pain, but they do—especially in your back and neck.
At least that’s the theory of John E. Sarno, whose famous belief about back pain was that physical symptoms are often responses to life’s challenges. He argued that most of us are unaware of the unconscious sentiments that churn beneath the surface of our day-to-day lives. Since we can’t control these feelings, the brain has to compensate. It generates physical symptoms to keep the harmful feelings from surfacing.
Sarno referred to this phenomenon as mindbody disorders, and said that the pain is simply meant to be a distraction from difficult emotions. But since traditional medicine has been slow to recognize the mindbody process, countless people are living with pain and misdiagnoses. Learn more about how to treat specific problems like back, neck, shoulder, and limb pain with our Instaread on The Mindbody Prescription.
