Can hurt feelings actually hurt? Research says yes. Here’s what you need to know about the physical effects of mental malaise By Margaret Littman CTW Features When I was in junior high, we watched a film in health class called “Cipher in the Snow” (BYU, 1973). The short flick was based on a true story about a kid who steps off the school bus and drops dead in a snow bank. In the movie folks discover that rather than having a heart attack or another physical illness, the boy had no friends, no support system and, literally, had died from loneliness. For more than two decades this 24-minute movie has stuck with me. From my teen years, it was a powerful reminder that the old “sticks and stones” expression may not be true. Words and other nonphysical thoughts and feelings can, indeed, break our bones. While people may use the expression “you hurt my feelings” from the time they are old enough to speak, few people think that kind of hurt can maim. Julie Totten wishes she had known about that kind of mind-body connection earlier. In 1990, Totten’s brother complained of not feeling well. He mentioned nonspecific ailments, such as headaches and stomachaches, but nothing that led her or anyone else to think there was a serious a problem. After he took his own life, Totten threw herself into research. “I felt like I could have saved him, but this was before all the ads and information about depression came out,” says Totten, who founded the Waltham, Mass.-based Families for Depression Awareness to help prevent other families from missing the signs. Armed with research on the link between physical pain and mental illness, Totten was able to help get her father treatment for depression that had previously been diagnosed. If you watch TV, you’ve heard these two words: Depression hurts. Commercials for the depression prescription medication Cymbalta draw the link between physical pain and mental illness, something Totten feels has helped her organization’s mission. Perhaps it should be no surprise that anger, shame and frustration, as well as sadness and depression can trigger physical symptoms. Most of us know anger and shame, from an insult or doing something embarrassing, can cause stomach pain, increased heart rate, sweating – all physical manifestations of what’s going on in our brains. Medical research suggests that depression is caused by an imbalance of two brain chemicals, serotonin and norepinephrine. If there’s a shortage or surplus of chemicals, it can impact the ways in which your body experiences physical sensations, such as pain. Cymbalta and Effexor are brand names for two selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors that may help moderate the chemical changes as well as the physical symptoms they cause. Venus Nicolino, Ph.D., a psychologist in Beverly Hills, agrees with Totten that the physical symptoms of depression are too often overlooked or misunderstood. Among the most frequent physical symptoms she sees are:
Headaches While headaches can be caused by everything from tumors to listening to your kid whine, they are fairly common among those with depression. Those with migraine headaches may experience them with increased frequency or intensity.
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