How Big A Role Does Stress Play In Fibromyalgia?

Answering ‘what causes fibromyalgia?’ is not an easy proposition. The problem stems from the fact that it is an ‘invisible’ disease. There are no early warning signs that a case of fibromyalgia is developing, there are no tests to confirm or deny that a person has fibromyalgia, the only way of diagnosing it is via it’s symptoms. Symptoms include Chronic Pain, chronic fatigue, insomnia, hypersensitivity to touch, depression and irritable bowel syndrome. While it is not fatal or degenerative it is a disease that will affect every aspect of a sufferers life and in roughly 30% of cases will make it impossible to work fulltime.

One thing that is common to all cases of fibromyalgia is stress, though it is not clear whether the stress causes the symptoms, or the symptoms cause the stress. Stress is a very broad term used to describe the perception of a threat, either physical or psychological, and a helplessness to deal with it. Stress sufferers feel under pressure continuously and this continued state can cause serious problems. In fact doctors estimate that over 90% of diseases are either directly caused by stress or severely worsened by stress, so fibromyalgia being a result of stress is not only possible, but statistically it is almost certain.

What remains unanswered however is why some people react differently to stress that others. In the same situation one may feel stressed while another feels motivated by a challenge. Two people stressed by the same situation may channel that stress entirely differently. One may handle the situational stress well and later develop a skin rash, the other may panic when put in a stress causing situation, but have no health related side effects.

How and why our bodies relate differently to stress is difficult to explain, as it the definition of stress itself. Like Fibromyalgia it is not a measurable problem, it appears to be psychologically based and differs from person to person. For some people the idea of speaking in public is horrifying and the most stressful thing there is, for others it is a fun activity, for others it is a job. The situation is identical, but the response is different so clearly stress is a psychological thing and the response is unique to the wiring of the mind.

The result of this is that the treatment and cure of fibromyalgia is quite different from other diseases. Medical treatment can be given to relieve the symptoms, but it cannot be given to prevent fibromyalgia itself. That requires dealing with the root of the problem, the mind, stress and how we deal with things on a holistic level. Healing fibromyalgia is a process that is carried out internally and with the right information and mindset it can end.

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