All pain is real!

But all pain is also an output of the brain.

The brain filters all incoming information and decides how to respond to it.
Pain occurs when the brain believes we need to protect our body tissues, but the brain isn’t always right. Sometimes the incoming danger signal won’t be related to our body tissues at all, but will be an emotional threat.

In chronic pain our danger transmission system becomes oversensitive, which can lead to more danger messages being sent to the brain.

Also in chronic pain, we are more likely to perceive threat, anticipate a bad outcome (more pain), we are more likely to be stressed and fearful, and to have lost confidence in our body and our ability to cope.

All of these things increase our symptoms and keep us locked in the pain-fear cycle.

The good news is that nearly all of these filters can be changed. We can learn to increase our sense of safety, to change our limiting beliefs, to stop expecting pain, and to become more confident in our ability to heal.