Chronic pain isn’t just a matter of aching muscles or lingering injuries—it can also be a silent echo of unprocessed emotions. Surprisingly, the roots of persistent pain often stretch back to early life experiences, with a strong connection between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and chronic pain.
How Trapped Emotions Manifest as Chronic Pain
Lidalize Grobler, an educational psychologist, told The Epoch Times that “emotion is energy in motion.” When we experience positive emotions, we naturally allow them to flow and enjoy the feeling. However, as a society, we often feel the need to suppress negative emotions.
When the “energy in motion” becomes trapped within the body, it can accumulate without a chance to be released. This buildup may manifest as chronic pain, serving as the body’s way of signaling that something unresolved needs attention. Over time, this trapped energy can become deeply embedded in our system, straining the body’s capacity to contain it.
“It’s akin to a gas chamber—just as the accumulation of gas makes the environment increasingly dangerous, the buildup of unresolved emotions becomes more harmful. If this pent-up energy has no outlet, it turns into chronic pain as the body’s way of seeking release. The key lies in finding ways to “open the door” and allow this built-up energy to flow out,” Grobler explained.
In therapy, it’s important to allow the “energy in motion” to flow freely through you. The emotions that were previously trapped need to be processed and released, enabling them to move through you rather than remaining stuck, she added.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Pain
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) refer to potentially traumatic events that occur before the age of 18 and are linked to heightened pain catastrophizing and pain complications later in life. Research indicates that 84% of adults with chronic pain report experiencing at least one ACE, compared to 61% of the general population. Additionally, the incidence of chronic pain appears to double among individuals with ACEs, and these individuals often experience increased pain severity.
Specifically, childhood neglect and abuse—whether physical or sexual—are associated with conditions such as fibromyalgia in adulthood. Furthermore, a history of physical abuse during childhood has been linked to a higher risk of neck and back pain in later life.
This seems to be because childhood adversity can significantly alter stress reactivity and lead to immunological dysregulation, which is associated with increased inflammation and may result in widespread pain. Studies have shown that severe inflammation can persist in individuals with multiple ACEs, even up to 30 years later.
“93% of patients referred to us for Fibromyalgia pain had significant unaddressed ACEs,” Elaine Wilkins, a coach, NHS trainer, and founder of The M.E., CFS, and Fibromyalgia Recovery Association, told The Epoch Times.
These early experiences, while often pre-verbal, are stored in the brain as feeling-memories, triggering emotions that become trapped in the body, Wilkins added.
The period before the age of six is particularly critical for neuroendocrine development, making childhood a sensitive time for emotional and physiological growth. Prolonged exposure to stressors during this developmental window can dysregulate the immune system, endocrine function, and brain development.
Emotional Pain Is Just as Real as Physical Pain
The development and persistence of chronic pain are understood to result from a complex interplay of social, psychological, and biological factors. A 2020 article defines pain as “an unpleasant subjective experience with both sensory and emotional components.”
The U.S. Pain Foundation emphasizes that even if the physical aspects of an injury or condition have healed, unresolved stress and emotions can prevent us from becoming pain-free. According to the foundation, key emotions that can intensify pain include helplessness, grief, anger, guilt, anxiety, and fear.
This does not mean that if you’re experiencing pain due to emotional factors, the pain is any less real.
“We now understand that the brain processes physical and emotional pain using the same pathways, so what you feel is real,” Wilkins said.
As a society, we often fail to recognize the physical impact that emotions can have on the body. Grobler explains that just as a hip injury can cause pain in the knee, we don’t dismiss the knee pain as “not real” or say it’s “all in your head,” just because it’s a referred pain. Yet, when it comes to emotional pain, people often resort to these dismissive attitudes.
“Just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t real,” Grobler adds.
The Role of Pain
“Pain is the body’s way of asking you to pay attention, signaling that something is not right—it’s like a smoke alarm,” explains Wilkins.
Symptoms and pain serve as the body’s means of getting your attention, prompting you to change something that isn’t working. However, instead of listening to this wisdom, many people continue engaging in behaviors that perpetuate their pain, resorting to self-medication with pills, alcohol, overworking, overspending, or people-pleasing to maintain approval. This tendency is especially strong when unresolved trauma makes us prioritize attachment over authenticity.
Grobler adds that pain is a message, a sign that something is out of balance. If we rush to eliminate it, we miss the opportunity to understand its underlying cause and may even harm ourselves further, much like how taking pain medication to push through an injury can exacerbate it. “Perhaps we need to reflect and sit with the pain, asking ourselves: What am I not hearing?” Grobler suggests. “It’s like a baby crying without being able to speak. Is it hungry, cold, or does it have a stomachache? Sometimes, it’s a matter of trial and error. Pain doesn’t come with a language, so can we give it the attention it needs and figure out what it’s trying to tell us?”
Practical Steps for Addressing Emotionally Rooted Pain
When experiencing chronic pain that you suspect might be due to emotional reasons or adverse childhood experiences, Grobler advised the importance of seeking therapy, as it provides an opportunity to analyze, comprehend, and express feelings that you may have suppressed for a long time.
“Often, we are not fully cognitively aware of the emotions that are causing pain, especially if the events occurred long ago, perhaps even during preverbal stages. This can leave those experiences trapped in our bodies. Therefore, a body-based approach to therapy is essential, as these issues cannot be resolved solely on a cognitive level,” Grobler explained.
While cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and psychoanalysis can help you understand what has happened, they may not fully address unprocessed emotions residing in the body. Without incorporating a body-based therapy, you may find it difficult to make lasting changes. Approaches like EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), BWRT (Brain Working Recursive Therapy), TRE (Tension and Trauma Release Exercises), or somatic experiencing can provide a deeper understanding of yourself and facilitate healing, Grobler said.
Additionally, if therapy is not an option, Grobler advised reading as a valuable alternative. Her top recommendations include:
- Your Body Speaks Your Mind by Deb Shapiro
- Heal Your Body by Louise Hay
- Heal Your Wounds & Find Your True Self by Lise Bourbeau
Wilkins recommended journaling when experiencing a flare-up to reflect on any events, conflicts, stressors, and emotions that may have contributed to the situation. She suggests asking yourself the following questions:
- What has affected me so deeply that my body is urging me to listen?
- If I am being 100% honest, what do I truly want to do?
- What am I dreading, or whom do I want to avoid seeing?
- What is my pain helping me to avoid?
- Am I moving my body enough?
- What activities have I given up that I once loved?
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