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EXPLORE FURTHER: I regained my life after battling chronic pain for many years…it wasn’t because of medication.
Just at the age of 19, Nicole Sachs received the news that she would likely require a wheelchair by the time she turned 40, making travel difficult and parenthood unlikely.
Sachs had been grappling with severe lower back pain for many years and was informed by her physician that this issue stemmed from spondylolisthesis, a spinal condition characterised by a vertebra slipping out of alignment.
The doctors maintained that her discomfort was linked to her long-term spinal issue, suggesting that she should consider spinal fusion surgery as the most viable solution, though they did not assure her that it would completely eliminate her pain forever.
However, just prior to proceeding, she stumbled upon the concept of mind-body practices and had an epiphany: her discomfort did not originate from a physical ailment but rather from suppressed traumas and emotions.
Today, 30 years later, not only is she free from pain, but she has also become a world-traveling mother of three children, surpassing the restrictions that were previously placed upon her.
In her book,
Mind Your Body
, Sachs, a social worker, reveals how she bridged the gap between traditional Western medicine and a radical new
understanding of chronic pain
: Her mind needed healing, not her spine.
His voyage tests all he believed about suffering.
Sachs recounts how everything began with a transformative insight: physicians do not always possess complete knowledge. She now aims to convey the scientific reasoning behind the discovery that rescued her, convinced it might assist countless individuals suffering endlessly.
Pain might seem like it’s just mental, yet it’s more complex than that.
For millennia, early medical practitioners held the belief that the mind and body were deeply interconnected—thinking that sorrow could undermine cardiac health, anxiety could disrupt digestion, and psychological injuries could appear as bodily discomforts.
In the 17th century, the emergence of Western medicine triggered a significant change in how individuals understood pain and ailments, viewing the body and mind as distinct entities to be addressed separately.
This has led to countless physicians informing their patients that all test results were normal and attributing their discomfort solely to psychological factors, thereby seeming dismissive.
That’s precisely how Sachs felt.
Focusing on the link between mind and body lessened her discomfort and ignited an exploration into how the brain contributes to persistent pain.
She earned qualifications in psychology and clinical social work, refining her method by merging psychotherapy with mind-body science.
Sachs stated: ‘When you comprehend how a fight-or-flight-driven nervous system conveys distress signals aimed at steering us away from the perceived “threats” responsible for our pain, the development of many long-term ailments becomes clearer… Through years of experience, I’ve found that altering one’s thought patterns is essential for rewiring.’
When she gave a voice to her inner child and addressed the unresolved trauma, her suffering started to fade away.
In the field of mind-body medicine, terms like ‘chronic condition’ and ‘chronic pain’ encompass a broad spectrum of persistent health concerns, including autoimmune episodes, discomfort, gastrointestinal disorders, dermatological issues, as well as emotional stress such as anxiety.
Sachs endured intense back pain for many years and found himself in this situation.
and out of doctors’ offices, trying prescription painkillers and medications.
Your brain is naturally geared towards protecting you from threats, yet being stuck in constant ‘fight-or-flight’ mode can transform emotional distress into long-term health issues.
When stress overtakes your body, it releases cortisol and adrenaline, getting you ready either to escape from danger or confront it head-on.
In mind-body medicine, pain doesn’t occur haphazardly—it’s the body’s method of diverting attention away from suppressed feelings such as anger or emotional distress by transforming these sensations into physical manifestations.
Sachs suggests that the solution is to cease resisting one’s emotions.
Deep loneliness, anger, and injustices were experiences she faced personally during her childhood.
When grown up, this induced physical discomfort, and she discovered via mind-body studies that her backache was a reaction to those experiences.
Through addressing hidden feelings, individuals may ‘deactivate’ their body’s natural warning mechanism, halting pain immediately.
Part of her routine involved developing JournalSpeak – an uncensored journaling technique aimed at uncovering and releasing pent-up feelings.
JournalSpeak directs individuals to select a subject that evokes strong emotions within them and write continuously for 20 minutes, disregarding concerns over spelling or grammatical accuracy.
Once finished, the individual may choose to incinerate, dispose of, or erase their writing, as the aim is to cleanse rather than reflect.
Following the writing, Sachs guides individuals to engage in meditation or practice grounding breathwork.
She stated: ‘Once the rude and unimaginable realities are uncovered and properly acknowledged, the nervous system ceases to respond by entering defense mode and transmitting pain signals.’
Researchers have grappled with the notion that long-lasting pain might be linked to emotional distress and may actually stem from it.
A 2012 study published in the journal
Methods for Regional Anesthesia and Pain Relief Techniques
determined that chronic pain and emotional trauma have physiological connections.
Research indicates that 35 percent of individuals with chronic pain fulfill the diagnostic requirements for PTSD.
Both scenarios activate an overstimulated state in the amygdala and cause the body to be inundated with stress hormones such as cortisol.
In 2022, scholars from the University of California, Los Angeles, suggested in the journal
Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
That suppressed rage can reshape the brain, triggering the amygdala and turning on the ‘pain switch’ to lead to conditions such as fibromyalgia and mysterious backaches.
They discovered that suppressed fury interferes with crucial areas of the brain, transforming emotional strain into bodily suffering. Untreated trauma and wrath maintain this pain response indefinitely and continually diminish the prefrontal cortex’s functionality—this region manages emotions, choices, and pain signals.
Sachs argues that the brain has the ability to understand challenging emotions do not actually threaten us, thereby decreasing undue distress signals, thus leading to less suffering.
Techniques such as JournalSpeak and mindfulness aid in rebalancing the nervous system, showing that stress doesn’t necessitate a painful survival reaction.
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