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From my own (anecdotal) experience, stress most definitely plays out in physical ways in your body. Throughout the day or night, you can be tightening muscles w
by danielbarla 5y ago
From my own (anecdotal) experience, stress most definitely plays out in physical ways in your body. Throughout the day or night, you can be tightening muscles without knowing it. They can eventually fatigue and set off a chain of other muscles compensating for it, etc. They can even cramp up in ways that they push on nerves, resulting in nerve-pain symptoms. It's all fairly logical, but for some reason there's this preconception that there is absolutely no linkage between our bodies and minds, which makes people look everywhere else first. The worst cases tend to be cyclical, where your worsening symptoms add to your stress, which leads to more symptoms, etc.
The caveat is that sometimes, it's not just stress. You shouldn't neglect your symptoms, if they persist.
- pjc50 5y agoThe canonical book on this that people recommend is "The Body Keeps The Score". I should probably get round to reading it.
- leonroy 5y agoI read the book after a recommendation on this site in fact. It was eye opening to say the least how conditions like ADHD, PTSD, childhood trauma, anxiety and depression have both psychological and physiological effects. Some of which are surmountable (trauma in adult hood) whereas early childhood trauma can leave long term physical changes to the brain and body making it something that has to be managed. The first 2/3 of the book is very illuminating the last 1/3 a little polemic on healthcare policy and funding. Enlightening book all in all.
- bsrhng 5y agoThat is unfortunately the case with me and it took me several years to start realizing that prolonged stress can result in this cascading effect where muscles tightening can distort your body slightly. This in turn can put strain on muscles initially unaffected which can themselves become locked because you cannot release the initial strain. By the time I started realizing it I couldn't answer anymore the question what it feels like for my body to be relaxed.
- dbasea 5y agoAre you doing better now?