To determine whether you are suffering from neuropsychological pain/MBS, you must receive a medical evaluation by a doctor who is well-informed on the subject and very familiar with this diagnosis. The goal of the diagnostic process is not just to rule out a structural (physical) source for the pain, but also to determine whether the characteristics of your specific pain are consistent with those of MBS-based pain. As you will see, these attributes are not only connected to the symptoms themselves (for example, their location or timing). During the evaluation, additional factors will be examined that are tied to the person’s background, life circumstances, significant events that affected them, and their personality. In other words, the various physiological, psychological, and social factors can all cause the neurological danger response mechanism to activate the pain response.
The process of diagnosis comprises two main stages:
Examining the Constellation of Symptoms Against the Attributes of Neuroplastic Pain/Pain from a Neuropsychological Source:
MBS pain is characterized by symptoms that “behave” a certain way in terms of their appearance and expression. These are generally split into 3 categories: structure, consistency, and triggers.
Pain without a structural/physical cause is connected to a person’s life circumstances, to the stress they feel at various stages of life, to emotions that haven’t been processed and to ways that they have learned to respond to those stressors and events. Most people who suffer from MBS are found to have the following factors present in addition to those mentioned above:
Traumas and negative life experiences are part of everyday life and are unavoidable. Financial crises, workplace crises, an illness or death of a loved one, and family crises (separation/divorce) are just a few of the stress factors we all experience. These events in and of themselves can serve as the factor the brain identifies as a threat or danger, and they can also serve as triggers for the primal emotions (such as anger, guilt, sadness, or frustration) connected to harm we experienced in the past. In both cases, they can evoke an emotional response that could develop into a physical syndrome such as TMS.
Research shows that people who had negative experiences and trauma in their childhoods are at greater risk for harm to their physical and emotional health as adults. What happens is that those feelings and experiences from childhood are preserved subconsciously as emotional memory. They are imprinted on the central nervous system, which becomes very alert and primed to search for and pinpoint signs of danger later in life. Stressful situations in the present that have a connection to past experiences may trigger the repressed emotional baggage and activate physical symptoms. There is a wide variety of examples of negative life experiences and possible traumas, for example:
Clinical experience shows that people who are more likely to develop symptoms tied to emotions or stress are those who tend to take on a lot of responsibility, even at the expense of their own needs. They are conscientious and “good” (with a tendency to please others) and are often perfectionistic and achievement-focused. The problem is that while these traits are widely accepted and valued in our society, they often conflict with the need to express certain emotions (such as rage or helplessness) and the need to tend to the person’s own real internal needs. These traits are a kind of invisible weight that increases emotional stress and can later express itself through physical symptoms.
The process of receiving an MBS diagnosis is not easy, especially if you’ve already received other structural/physical explanations of the pain. It’s a complete revolution. Most often, people need to go back over the criteria and become convinced that they are not actually suffering from a dangerous structural problem. Don’t be concerned if you find yourself doubting over and over again; it’s part of the process.
The process of diagnosis always begins with an evaluation and interview with a doctor who can rule out a physical/structural problem (such as a tumor, disease, broken bone, etc.). This is the stage where the doctor reviews all the tests and scans that have been done and completes a clinical examination.
The next stage involves a thorough examination of whether the pain behaves in a way that is characteristic of MBS. The diagnosis must take into consideration a variety of factors connected to the physical characteristics of the pain, the person’s life circumstances, and personality traits common among those who suffer from this type of pain.
If you receive a diagnosis of MBS, that’s actually good news. MBS is pain caused by hyperarousal in the central nervous system and brain, and it’s not dangerous. Today there is a great deal of research showing us that it’s possible to reduce and even cure this type of pain with the right knowledge and treatment.
