Fibromyalgia prevented Vera, 46, from getting up in the morning. As he made his way to the bathroom and began to work, the pain wounds settled on his hands, head, and neck. Tears in the eyes. It made her angry to think that Kurt had not even thought about fixing things at home to make life a little easier. Vera remembered discussions about her being in the doctor’s office and was even more angry. But she never told him anything. She turned to the support group she would be attending later in the day, although she did not manage to relieve her physical discomfort.
Vera found it easier to focus on the pain of fibromyalgia than on her scary emotions
As she was having breakfast, some backtracking of her familiar family background flooded Vera’s vision. She saw the tension she felt coming from school, wondering if her parents would argue or choke their throats. Her mother would get rid of her frustration for Vera, the oldest and quietest of her children. Her muscles contracted when she remembered the fear of uncertainty and she did not know how to talk about her concerns. It was the same now. She could not speak of the anxiety of not being able to take care of herself. Vera had no say in her father’s anger not to let her mother be happy, and to Kurt for being equally insensitive and indifferent. What she had was a pain in her body, ranging from uncomfortable pain to excruciating pain for which no specific organic cause was found. Fibromyalgia was the diagnosis. He came with fatigue, slowing down his actions and restricting his life. This made Vera dependent on pain medication and a husband who would drop her, repeating the cycle of her childhood.
Filling her anger made Vera fibromyalgia more acute and painful
Vera’s difficulties in talking about her anger and stress during her childhood and now into adulthood make it more likely that her pain experience when fibromyalgia gets worse is more intense and debilitating. The European Journal of Pain , 2010 published a study comparing women with fibromyalgia with expression to those who suppressed their anger. The greater the inhibition of anger, the greater the pain experience in women with fibromyalgia. Those who became angry and expressed this in the situation in which they were awakened had the least possible pain.
No positive thought relieved her excruciating pain related to fibromyalgia
Compared to healthy women, those who avoid strong negative emotions, such as anger, and let them go untreated, are more likely to suffer from fibromyalgia. In addition, focusing on positive emotions does not seem to be a sufficient cushion. According to a report published in the Journal of Psychosomatic Research of2008, is the lack of treatment of negative emotions that precipitates the cycle of pain in fibromyalgia patients, regardless of the amount or duration of positive thoughts. Vera was no more sensitive than most women to negative emotions such as anger, but she experienced them more often and never learned to express them in a healthy way. He has compromised his neuroendocrine functioning, lowering his pain threshold physically and psychologically, suggests a study on women with fibromyalgia published in Arthritis Care and Research, 2010.
Fibromyalgia is linked to chronic stress in children and conflict with parents
Vera was typical of most adult women with fibromyalgia who had had a stressful childhood, as reported by the Journal Stress and Health in 2009. Vera’s experience of her mother’s verbal and emotional abuse and indifferent attitude from his father is another common trait. in life. stories of women with fibromyalgia. Vera’s struggles with her mother and now with her husband have made life look more negative. Conflicts with parents and then with partners increase stress and contribute to the most negative perceptions of the lives of women with fibromyalgia, as reported by European Psychiatry in 2000.
Chronic stress in children deregulates the neuroendocrine system of Vera, making it more prone to fibromyalgia
Long-term, ongoing and chronic stress affects the neuroendocrine system, making it less effective over time. Vera’s childhood trauma created a constant sense of uncertainty and unpredictability that prevented her from developing and using sound stress management strategies. Thus, with each new stress, his neuroendocrine system weakened and began to function abnormally. She lived in a state of constant stress, so her stress hormone levels, such as cortisol, were high years after the stress relief of living with parents. Despite the struggle to live with a man who was argumentative and unsupported, it was nothing compared to his previous stressful experiences. Psychoneuroendocrinolgy.
The treatment of negative emotions can reduce the pain associated with Vera fibromyalgia
Vera might not be able to change her story or her husband. But she can begin to treat her emotions in her support group and supplement them with psychotherapy. She can share her anger about her youth, as well as her fear of being helpless and alone in pain. She can relieve her already overloaded neuroendocrine system by recognizing, naming and expressing her feelings for the moment. A 2010 study in Arthritis Care and Research suggests that Vera can expect a 50% to 70% improvement in her functioning and feel less pain if she does.
