Any emotion has a number of bodily manifestations.
When a person is happy, his breathing quickens and deepens, his back and shoulders straighten, his eyes widen, a smile appears, lightness and trembling in the body, blood pressure rises.
When angry, breathing also quickens and deepens, blood pressure rises, muscles tense up, especially in the arms, teeth clench, eyes may widen or narrow, trembling appears in the body, the skin turns red or pale.
When offended, there is a feeling of a lump in the throat, muscles can become stiff, movements slow down, the face becomes numb, if the offender is nearby, then the person tends to turn away from him.
If guilt is experienced, then the back becomes hunched, the shoulders are lowered, sighs appear, the corners of the mouth are lowered, the gaze is directed downward, the head is pressed into the shoulders.
With the emotion of shame, the face turns red, it can throw you into heat or cold, pressure rises, you want to fall through the ground, there is a shiver in the body.
There are no feelings, during the experience of which nothing changes in the body. We can say that first thoughts arise about the situation, then the body reacts, then the emotion is recognized. This process happens quickly, and psychotherapy does not work with the situation itself, but with its consequences for thoughts, body, emotions.
When a person is in the same stressful situation every day, he first experiences intense emotions about this. For example, if he gets angry, then he has a daily bodily experience of anger, which is described above. If anger is not expressed in any way, but is experienced inside, or a person releases it, but this does not lead to a change in the situation, then anger gradually ceases to be realized so that the human psyche is not injured daily. But the body has already learned that it is necessary to react to the situation by raising pressure, clenching teeth, tense muscles to the point of trembling, reddening of the face, a lot of energy is spent on these physical reactions, so the person begins to feel tired, sore muscles, and thinks: “Probably, I have pressure, I’m probably sick with something ”- at this moment there is an ALARM for my health.
Further, the person begins to identify the symptoms of anger, which he is no longer aware of, as symptoms of anxiety. And this anxiety pushes him to look for the cause of bodily malaise. Examinations, doctors, making incorrect diagnoses, treating them, or doctors don’t find anything, then there’s nothing to treat. Anxiety is growing. And already the primary situation, where a person was angry, is almost forgotten, it simply becomes an element of the events of every day. Now it is much more important to improve your health, and only then deal with the offenders.
Anxiety pushes to search for illnesses, helps to create the illusion that a person can do something with the situation he is in. And the anger that was experienced at the beginning and was adequate to the situation is not experienced, because. it is “meaningless” and traumatic for the soul. Anxiety is easier to experience here, because it gives a feeling of control over what is happening: “Here I will find the disease, I will cure it, and life will get better!” Thinking such thoughts is much more optimistic and promising than: “Oh, how this boss got me, what a fool he is, how much can you wipe your feet on me ?!”
Something similar happens with other emotions. With chronic resentment, a lump is constantly felt in the throat, resentment is forgotten, a person looks for causes in diseases, for example, thinks about a thyroid tumor, tries to find and cure it. With guilt, pain in the back and neck can be constantly felt. Then “it is necessary to treat osteochondrosis” or other diseases of the spine. Anxiety about health is a wonderful feeling so that other emotions do not feel.
It happens that the psyche does not allow a person to experience emotions that will bring severe pain. For example, with the loss of a loved one, not everyone is emotionally prepared to experience the normal, timely acute grief reaction. Its bodily manifestations – tremors in the body, changes in pressure, heat, cold, numbness or excitement – a person recognizes as anxiety. These symptoms reappear daily after the loss, and the mechanism of escape into health anxiety reappears and it really saves from acute mental pain. The brain throws up thoughts: “My dad died of cancer, which means I will die soon!” – here the key is not “dad died”, but “from CANCER”. It is scary to experience fear for oneself and look for a disease, but it is even more terrible and painful to survive and live the loss of a loved one, because. you are still alive, but he is gone.
If you are already tired of visiting doctors, come to me for a session. Together we will find what is behind your anxiety. We will find and destroy!