When the brain is under pressure, it sends signals throughout the body. Many people suffer from stomachache and heart pain, but when the doctor examines them, they cannot see any issue in their stomach or heart. These pains are signals sent by the body due to mental stress. The connection between our body and mind is closer than we think. We often talk about physical and mental health. “Mental” refers to our mind and spirit, which are manifestations of the operation of our brain, while “Physical” refers to other organs of our body. When our brains have to speak and express, they will naturally do it through thoughts, emotions, and limb movement. For example, when we are wronged at work, or when we are stressed out, a thought will arise in our heads: I want to resign! The emotion at this time is anger. Our limb movement is to immediately take out the mobile phone and search for jobs online. When the brain is under pressure, it also sends out distress signals through our body’s sensations and other reactions.
These signs include insomnia, inability to concentrate after getting up, headaches (especially when you need to use your brain), tight gums, teeth grinding, dry mouth, difficulty swallowing, neck, shoulder and other muscle pain, rapid heartbeat, persistent feeling of tightness in the heart and chest, stomach discomfort, diarrhea, hand tremors, tinnitus, and cold limbs. These symptoms are all common. In addition to the mentioned physical sensations and reactions, a stressed brain will also drive us to do certain things to our bodies repeatedly without our awareness, such as binge-eating desserts, drinking, smoking, biting our nails, pulling the skin off our lips, etc.
I hope that from now on, everyone will have more appropriate interpretations and responses to these physical sensations and reactions. Remember, it is not wise to simply dismiss these reactions and feelings as noise and then try to silence or cover them up. Let’s say after working on the computer for several hours, your head starts to hurt and you can’t concentrate. Instead of drinking coffee to refresh yourself or taking painkillers to relieve pain, why not go out for a while and glimpse at the sky between the skyscrapers to relax? And let’s say after lunchtime, many people have not yet digested the lunch they just had. Their stomachs are still full. However, after working for an hour, they feel a craving for dessert. Instead of taking this as a sign of hunger, why not try to interpret this signal as a sign that your brain needs some relief? The response is not to eat snacks but to close your eyes to relax. Listen to calming music for fifteen minutes.
It is important to understand that a stressed brain complains through physical sensations. To become a pro in managing physical and mental health, you have to decode the signals from your body correctly. Since you always take time to read the text from your friends no matter how busy you are, why would you ignore the daily messages from your body and mind? If the messages from your body and mind are difficult to interpret, you need to seek a professional, such as your doctor, to help you decode these messages.
Written by: Dr. William Chui
Originally posted on: Mental Health Foundation FB page
Translated by: Cheuk Long Chan
