Why Does My Pain Get Worse When I'm Stressed?

The Link Between Stress, Emotions, and Chronic Pain

If you’ve ever noticed your pain getting worse after a stressful day—or flaring up during anxiety or emotional turmoil—you’re not imagining it. In fact, stress and emotions play a powerful role in how your brain processes pain.

But why does this happen? And what can you do about it?

Let’s break it down.

The Brain and Pain Are Deeply Connected

Pain doesn’t just happen in your body—it happens in your brain.

Even when there’s an injury, it’s your brain that interprets danger signals from the body and decides, “This is pain.”

Now here’s the twist: your brain uses context to make that decision. Stress, fear, past trauma, and emotional tension all become part of that context. So if your nervous system is on high alert—like it is during stress—your brain is more likely to amplify pain signals.

How Stress Makes Pain Worse

Here’s what happens in your body when you're stressed:

• Your brain activates the fight-or-flight response

• Cortisol and adrenaline levels rise

• Muscles tense up

• Breathing becomes shallow

• The nervous system becomes more sensitive

When this system stays “on” for too long, the body gets stuck in protective mode, and pain can become louder and more persistent—even without new damage or injury.

This is especially true for chronic conditions like:

• Fibromyalgia

• Tension headaches

• Neck, back, or pelvic pain

• IBS

• Migraines

• CRPS

Emotional Pain = Physical Pain?

Yes—sort of.

Your brain processes emotional pain and physical pain in overlapping regions, especially the anterior cingulate cortex and insula. This means that heartbreak, grief, anxiety, or emotional trauma can literally hurt—and they can trigger or intensify physical pain too.

If you've had a difficult life event, a history of trauma, or ongoing emotional stress, your pain might not just be “in your body”—it’s part of a bigger story your brain is trying to protect you from.

Why This Does Not Mean "It's All In Your Head"

This part is important.

Saying pain is influenced by stress or emotion does not mean you're making it up. It means your nervous system is doing too good of a job trying to protect you—sometimes in ways that backfire.

Pain is always real.But sometimes, the danger isn't physical—it's emotional or psychological—and your brain responds as if you're still under threat.

This is what we call central sensitization or neuroplastic pain. Good news? The brain can unlearn it.

What You Can Do About It

If stress and emotions fuel your pain, then changing how you respond to them can lower your pain. Here are evidence-based tools from pain psychology that can help:

🧠 Learn How Pain Works

Understanding that pain is a protective brain output, not just a body problem, can be surprisingly powerful. Just knowing this can start to reduce fear—and pain.

🧘 Practice Nervous System Soothing

• Diaphragmatic breathing

• Body scans

• Safe movement

• Grounding techniques

These help signal safety to your brain and reduce pain amplification.

🗣️ Use Mind-Body Therapies

• CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) teaches you to shift pain-related thoughts and behaviors.

• ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy) helps you reduce the struggle with pain and live meaningfully alongside it.

• Pain Reprocessing Therapy directly targets the brain’s pain prediction patterns.

  
  

💬 Talk to a Pain-Informed Therapist

A psychologist or therapist who understands the brain-body connection can help you work through unresolved stress, trauma, or emotional pain that may be contributing to physical symptoms.

Final Thoughts

If your pain gets worse with stress, it’s not a sign that you’re weak—it’s a sign that your brain and body are deeply connected. And that’s actually empowering, because it means that you have more tools than you think to change your relationship with pain.

By understanding the emotional roots of pain and learning how to calm your nervous system, you can start to reduce pain from the inside out.

💡 Want to Learn More?

Check out Menda Health — a program that helps people with chronic pain learn the tools of pain psychology in a guided, supportive way.