When your body hurts, it’s usually easy to tell what caused it. You’re sure that your knee hurts because you tripped and fell a while ago or that your stomach is upset because you ate food that didn’t agree with you. However, when you feel emotional pain, it can be challenging to understand what caused it and how to deal with it.
Usually, emotional distress is caused by other people’s actions, like hurtful words or being the butt of a joke. Other times, it is caused by regret, grief, and loss. However, what can be challenging is when emotional pain is the result of mental health conditions like depression or anxiety, as it is often incredibly tricky to pinpoint and address.
The Symptoms of Emotional Pain
Some people believe that emotional pain isn’t as significant as physical pain, usually because it’s easier to mask. However, people must take emotional pain seriously, which can seriously impact their physical and mental health.
Some symptoms of emotional pain include panic, grief, intense distress, negative emotions, feelings of worthlessness, loneliness, isolation, and deep sorrow or depression. If any of these symptoms are reoccurring, you may want to try counseling services to address the root cause and understand why you are in pain.
The Causes of Emotional Pain
Many different emotions can result in emotional and psychological pain. It is normal to experience these feelings sometimes, but when they are intense and persistent to the point of interfering with your daily life, they become a cause for concern. Here are some of the common causes of emotional pain:
Anxiety
Anxiety is the fearfulness of the uncertain, which means you are perpetually scared of different scenarios that may occur. It can also be caused by substance use, so discontinuing your use of alcohol or drugs may alleviate your anxiety.
Sadness
It is normal to feel sad from time to time, which is often associated with disappointment and loss. However, if the feeling persists, it may mean that you have a mental health condition like depression, which affects your entire body. If it starts affecting your daily life, be sure to call a counseling hotline to get the help you need right away.
Repressed Anger
Anger is often regarded as an unnecessary negative emotion, but the reality is that it is a primary human emotion that is neither bad nor good. It increases muscle tension and accelerates your breathing because it releases adrenaline, part of the ‘fight’ part in your body’s fight, flight, or freeze response. Sometimes, it can propel you into action. However, if you don’t express your anger in healthy ways, it may lead to long-lasting physical consequences.
Shame and Guilt
When people feel embarrassed about something they said or did, they may start feeling guilty or ashamed coupled with a heavy feeling in their stomach. For instance, many people with addiction struggle with feelings of shame, often exacerbated by the need to hide their continued use of the substance. If shame and guilt go on unaddressed, they may also lead to negative physical consequences.
How Emotional Pain Affects Your Body
Although physical and emotional pain is markedly different, some types of pain share neurological similarities. For instance, physical and emotional pain is associated with changes in parts of the brain, notably the prefrontal cortex and cingulate cortex.
Some researchers believe that emotional pain and physical pain are different and must be treated as such, but the reality is that pain usually lies in the middle of the spectrum. Some people feel ashamed when they trip and hurt themselves, causing them both emotional and physical pain. Others have anxiety so bad that it gives them a perpetual upset stomach.
Conclusion
Taking care of your emotional pain is a crucial part of your overall happiness and well-being. Neglecting it and treating it as less important than your physical pain will only cause it to progress into a mental health condition with physical symptoms. By acknowledging your mental pain and seeking treatment through counseling services near you, you can alleviate your symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Hope Seed Support Center is a counseling center in Houston offering mental health services, like online mental health counseling. With over 80 years of combined experience, we believe our dedication to benevolence and excellence allows us to provide comprehensive, client-centered care. Schedule a online counseling session with us today.
