Fibro Myth #1: If you stopped being so stressed out, you'd feel better
Stress affects most people. And it is true that stress is extremely unhealthy.
But, fibromyalgia and in fact, most other chronic illnesses are NOT caused by stress.
In the past, doctors believed that fibromyalgia was a pyschological problem; an inability, in some people, to cope with life's circumstances. Then suddenly, ten or so years ago, doctors found out that that this initial hypothesis was wrong.
Fibromyalgia is actually caused by a change in the way a person's brain operates. The brain starts processing pain signals differently, perceiving consistently strong pain, where there is no muscular cause. Through brain mapping, doctors can actually see the difference between a normal person and a fibro patient, although such costly tests are not necessary to confirm diagnosis. As fibro patients, we have no more control over the way our brain works as a healthy person does. For example, can you force your brain to stop digesting your food after a meal - No! Your brain just does this.
But like most illnesses, chronic or otherwise, stress makes fibro worse. And as chronic illness sufferers, we are often naturally in a greater deal of a stress than other people. Add this to the stress of relationships with people who are not supportive of our health struggles, new symptoms, life circumstances (eg. loss of a loved one) & it's not so difficult to see why we feel overwhelmed. That is why we practice stress management techniques and relaxation therapies... Not because we are not good at dealing with stress, but because we have a whole lot more stress in consistent bursts to deal with.
The reality is, even if we were awesome at dealing with stress, we'd still be in pain, because we'd still have fibromyalgia.
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