Can anxiety cause muscle aches?

The mind-body connection is not as mystical as many might think. In the same way that when some part of us hurts we can be angry or sad because of it, the inverse relationship also exists.

Our emotional state influences the severity and quantity of physical symptoms that we can manifest, whether or not they are related to a real physical illness. Depression, stress, and especially anxiety, can worsen our physical health.

Of all the ailments that we can feel, Can anxiety cause muscle aches? Next we will see the answer.

• Related article: "What is anxiety: how to recognize it and what to do"

Can the high level of anxiety cause muscle aches?

Mind and body are known to be two-way connected. Mental and physical health influence each other and, when one is disturbed, it is a matter of time before the other is equally affected, even if we are not aware of it. For example, when we break a leg, the pain will produce sadness, nervousness and anger and, although we have a cast, we will inevitably feel frustrated by not being able to walk as usual for a good weather.

The inverse relationship also exists. If our mood is altered, our physical health will be damaged sooner or later. If we are depressed or worried, our physical health will suffer, mainly by weakening the immune system, making us more predisposed to falling ill. By having a low state of mind, our body also reduces its ability to respond to pathogens.

But while depression is a relatively common problem, it is not as common as anxiety. Anxiety can be defined as a mental state in which the person experiences high restlessness, intense excitement and extreme insecurity. It is a response mechanism of the body to a situation perceived as dangerous for both physical and mental integrity, preparing us to emit a flight or fight behavior.

Anxiety is an innate response that we cannot get rid of, nor should it be pathologized to the minimum that it appears. Even so, at high levels it induces problems in the body, becoming a pathology damaging both our mental and physical health. In anxiety disorders, this emotion, far from activating us to face a threat that can harm us, becomes a threat in itself.

Psychosomatization, anxiety and muscle pain

Psychosomatic illnesses are those physical ailments whose cause is related to a psychological problem. It is believed that almost 12% of the European population suffers from this type of discomfort and it has been hypothesized that a quarter of the people who go to primary care services, suffering from muscle aches and other physical ailments, their real problem is in the mind. Given how common anxiety is, it is not surprising that it is the main psychological problem that explains these cases.

A person is considered to suffer somatizations when they present one or more physical symptoms and, after having undergone a medical examination, these symptoms cannot be explained by a known medical condition or, if it is, the symptoms and their consequences are too serious compared to a typical picture of that disease. The severity of the symptoms and the uncertainty of not knowing where they come from causes great discomfort in different areas of his life.

Muscle aches are very common problems in the population. In most cases where the cause is psychological, those affected go to medical services several times. Due to the saturation of medical services and how difficult it is to diagnose muscle pain the first time caused by anxiety, professionals prescribe pain relievers, focusing only on the physical symptoms of the disease.

When we say that muscle aches may be caused by anxiety, we are not saying that, necessarily, the person has a childhood trauma or an anxiety disorder, which has produced his Physical problem. Perfectly this person may be suffering from anxiety on a daily basis and not even realize it. It is by delving into her daily life and doing an analysis of how her day to day is, we can see that she is subjected to small episodes of anxiety that, although apparently harmless and miniscule, accumulated can psychosomatize in pain of back of her.

At other times doctors, When they see that they do not find a physical cause that explains these pains, they understand that there could be an anxiety problem behind them and they know that they should refer the patient to a psychologist. The problem is that on many occasions the patients themselves deny having anxiety problems, considering that this is either a bad diagnosis by the doctor or they do not understand very well what relationship there may be between anxiety and pain muscular.

• You may be interested in: "The 13 types of pain: classification and characteristics"

Why don't we go to the psychologist when our back hurts?

This question may seem very obvious at first. Logic makes us think that if we have back pain it must be due, by necessity, to a physical problem. Human beings, when facing a problem, we tend to look for solutions that share the same nature, and in the case of physical health it is very evident. If we have muscle problems, we look for a doctor who specializes in this type of pain, and if we have stomach problems, one specialized in the digestive tract.

We like to think that a problem will be solved with something that is related to it. This is why, when the professional indicates to the patient that perhaps his problem is due to a psychological problem, the person is somewhat skeptical. “How can a psychologist fix my back pain? Are you sure it's not due to a blow or poor posture? What is anxiety going to have to do with my back ache? " the patient will wonder very surprised.

Although much progress has been made that the population stops seeing the psychologist as the one who treats people who are "crazy", no Few people have very internalized the idea that going to one of them is confirming that they themselves are "sick with head". As they are afraid that the psychologist will find them something that they do not want to know, many of these patients resort to alternative therapies, distrusting doctors and fearful of psychologists, who believe there is little they will do to ease their disabling pains muscular.

So that it is not uncommon to find hundreds of people with muscle aches who say they have tried everything: acupuncture, Bach flowers, homeopathy, osteopathy, reiki, meditation, all kinds of massages... They believe that these practices are less invasive than conventional medicine and more effective than psychology. Conventional medicine and psychology are based on scientifically proven methods, and although their degree of intervention is more invasive than many of these practices, it is also much more cash.

In addition, as a criticism of all these practices, in most pseudoscientific cases, it is that, despite the fact that they say they are moving away from medicine conventional, they do agree with it in the fact that they focus on the physical symptoms, not the psychological problems behind the pain muscular. Conventional medicine does this by prescribing painkillers, anxiolytics or other substances focused on pain, while the aforementioned practices do it with techniques that do absolutely nothing (p. eg, reiki).

Currently, both behavioral medicine and health psychology know and try to deepen more about the mind-body relationship. That is why they treat the individual from a broader perspective, taking into account how the factors biological, psychological and social influence the appearance, maintenance and resolution of all kinds of problems physical.

Bibliographic references:

• Stein MB, et al. (2017) Treating anxiety in 2017: Optimizing care to improve outcomes. JAMA; 318:236.
• Andrews, G. (2003). The treatment of anxiety disorders: clinician guides and patient manuals (2nd ed.). Cambridge, UK; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
• Antony, M. M., Orsillo, S. M., Roemer, L., & Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy. (2001). Practitioner's guide to empirically based measures of anxiety. New York: Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers.
• Bobes García, J. (2001). Anxiety disorders and depressive disorders in primary care. Barcelona, ​​etc.: Masson.
• Brinkerhoff, S. (2004). Drug therapy and anxiety disorders. Philadelphia: Mason Crest Publishers.
• Cano-Vindel, A., & Miguel-Tobal, J. J. (1990). Differences between normal and psychosomatic subjects in the pattern of anxiety responses to different types of anxiety situations. / Differences between healthy and psychosomatic subjects in the pattern of anxiety responses in different types of situations. In C.O.P. (Ed.), Psychology and Health: Health Psychology (pp. 62-67). Madrid: Official College of Psychologists (COP)