Mental Attitude: Stress Reduces Our Ability to Deal with Pain.

Chronic stress can take a mental and physical toll on the body. A new study suggests that stress can affect our ability to withstand physical pain as well. Of the study’s 29 participants, those who experienced higher levels of psychological stress had a significantly lower ability to withstand pain than those with lower stress levels. Lead researcher Dr. Ruth Defrin explains, “Modern life exposes individuals to many, recurrent stressful situations. While there is no way to predict the type of stress we will feel under different circumstances, it is advisable to do everything in our power – adopt relaxation and stress reduction techniques as well as therapy – to reduce the amount of stress in our lives.” Pain, February 2015