If you don’t agree that CRPS has anything to do with stress, and you believe that it is a novel new-age concept, I have done some linguistic research to prove you wrong!
Think of our language, which has developed over centuries. It will offer you evidence that this concept is not only old, but it has withstood the test of time. I assembled this collective wisdom of our ancestors encapsulated in a beautiful idiomatic language, and matched those idioms to the symptoms of CRPS as described by the Budapest Criteria, a major CRPS diagnostic tool.
This comparison provides evidence that emotional distress can lead to very physical reactions in the body and our ancestors knew about it! Let’s dive into some forensic linguistics!
Budapest Criteria groups symptoms of CRPS in four major groups:
Group 1. Sensory – evidence of hyperalgesia (to pinprick) and/or allodynia (to light touch and/or temperature sensation and/or deep somatic pressure and/or joint movement)
Here are some popular English idioms showing the connection between the emotional state and actual physical symptoms: “raw nerves” (feeling like your skin is peeled off and any touch feels like hitting bare nerves), or “flayed alive” (an extreme image of having your skin peeled off, meaning you are so sensitive that any touch hurts). In my book, I describe my own allodynia as “fire ants crawling on my skin”.
Group 2. Vasomotor – evidence of temperature asymmetry (> 1 °C) and/or skin colour changes and/or asymmetry
This group has a matching idiom, “blood run cold” (a chilling physical sensation of blood rushing away from the skin under extreme emotional shock, making the skin turn white or even purple). I developed Raynaud’s syndrome when my CRPS was at its peak. This idiom precisely describes Raynaud’s syndrome and skin color changes I experienced then.
Group 3. Sudomotor/oedema – evidence of oedema and/or sweating changes and/or sweating asymmetry
A true linguistic gem is offered by our language for this group: “sweating bullets”(heavy perspiration from tension), “break out in a cold sweat” (a sudden, clammy perspiration triggered by the sympathetic nervous system during acute distress).
Group 4. Motor/trophic – evidence of decreased range of motion and/or motor dysfunction (weakness, tremor, dystonia) and/or trophic changes (hair, nail, skin).
For this one, the list of idioms is long: “frozen with fear” (a complete, locked muscle immobilization caused by an overwhelming survival response), “shaking like a leaf” or “shaky knees” (visible trembling or physical weakness in the limbs from flooded adrenaline), “white-knuckled” (hands are gripped so tightly that knuckles turn white).
Think about it: at some point, your body experiences emotional distress that triggers one or more of the above reactions, and instead of your emotions subsiding soon, your distress remains for a long time, and so do the symptoms. The more you stress out, the more profound the symptoms are. Your CRPS intensifies. It moves and spreads to other extremities. Then it spreads to the entire body. Then you are told that you have an incurable condition and must live with it. But what will happen if you bring your stress response under control? That’s what I did, following Dr. Sarno’s recommendations, and my symptoms went away!
Our ancestors knew what a distressed nervous system can do to the body. There is a treasure trove of other idioms that describe other conditions that often accompany CRPS:
- Heart palpitations, panic attacks: “butterflies in the stomach” (nervousness in the gut), “heart in your mouth” (extreme fear), “a bundle of nerves” (feeling physically tight, jumpy, and completely wired).
2. Brain fog: “brain is fried / brain is mush” (feeling completely unable to think clearly, process information, or make simple decisions) , “in a fog” (experiencing a hazy, slow mental state where thoughts are scattered and unfocused from fatigue), “brain dead” (temporarily lacking the mental capacity or energy to generate a single thought or idea).
3. Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: “running on empty” (continuing to work or function even though all physical and mental energy is completely depleted).
It is a widely accepted notion that our muscles and joints are flexible and that our bodies can be trained to become stronger or more relaxed. Why would you make an exception for your brain? Train it to become more flexible, relaxed, and adaptable so it stops sending undesirable stress signals to your brain. How to do it? Read this! Convinced? Comment below or send me an email here!
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