Multiple Protective Systems
Learn how pain arises from multiple protective systems and how you can use this information to manage it.
Multiple Protective Systems
The brain uses multiple protective systems other than pain.
Pain isn’t the only way our brain protects us; it also uses endocrine, immune, motor, cognitive, and autonomic nervous system responses to promote safety.
- The endocrine system protects by releasing stress hormones to trigger a fight-or-flight response, regulates hormone inflammation, and immune system responses during threats.
- The immune system protects us by detecting pathogens, damaged cells, and foreign invaders by creating inflammation, antibodies, and cellular responses.
- The motor system protects us through reflexes, muscle guarding, movement avoidance, and postural adjustments to prevent or limit injury.
- The cognitive system protects us via attention, learning, memory, decision-making, and beliefs that drive avoidance of danger or the pursuit of safety. In pain, threat perception can be amplified or reduced through catastrophizing or reframing.
- The autonomic system protects us by regulating involuntary responses like heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and sweating.
Bidirectional Amplification
These protective systems influence each other bidirectionally, meaning each can amplify fear or anxiety, potentially resulting in escalated threat perception and pain (DIMs). When danger persists, other systems can become turned up and edgy. Sometimes this can lead to disproportionately heightened emotional reactions and pain in response to safe or nonthreatening situations, sensations, and environments.
This is because pain, whether physical or emotional, is the byproduct of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors. We are the summation of the life we have lived, and our past heavily influences how we react to future events. Every emotion we experience influences how we will process similar emotions in the future.
- Our body collects raw data from how it interacts with its environment.
- Raw data becomes emotions and sensations after it has been processed by the brain, and then we react to how it feels.
- How we react to those emotions creates a baseline for how raw data will be translated into emotion in the future.
Fear-Avoidance Cycle
When this effect takes a negative turn, it can result in a fear-avoidance cycle. The fear-avoidance cycle is a psychological and behavioral loop in which an initial painful or traumatic event leads someone to develop a fear of similar experiences. It manifests as catastrophizing, activity avoidance, deconditioning, and central sensitization that sustains chronic pain.
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Jennifer Brand Spa
Pain Management at 2717 Hwy K, O’Fallon, MO 63368