I am unsure this book's claims are correct, and I still remain skeptical. But one epiphany I had in dealing with my recent RSI is that it does make me worry — q

I am unsure this book's claims are correct, and I still remain skeptical. But one epiphany I had in dealing with my recent RSI is that it does make me worry — quite a bit in fact. Programming is not only how I make a living, and also a hobby and my future life as a grad student. Having it all be at risk because of RSI makes me incredibly stressed. Previously when I've had RSI, it's gone away after a week or so. Now I'm the most stressed I've ever been about it because it just hasn't gone away. I don't think it's so odd to suspect that there is a psychological component (and now that I am aware of it I am addressing this it from angle more). There's an unlimited positive pain feedback cycle, which could explain the persistence. I could see some sort of process where RSI's origination is physical (overuse, definitely was in my case) but its lingering is a function of stress. This article also made me realize that it is silly for skeptics to use the placebo effect (a purely psychological effect) to attack pseudoscience healing crap, but then dismiss psychological explanations for pain. If the mind can limit pain through the placebo effect, why is it so suspicious the brain can cause or continue pain?