Stress usually increases pain, it’s a known fact.
But a new study shows that anger, especially when combined with a sense of unfairness, can be even more powerful in prolonging chronic pain and making it feel more intense.
Researchers studied more than 700 adults dealing with chronic pain and found that how a person feels and expresses anger can play a big role in the amount of pain they feel and how long the pain lasts.
People who felt deeply disadvantaged or unfairly treated because of their condition were more likely to report worse pain months later.
This study was led by Dr. Gadi Gilam, who directs the tSCAN laboratory at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and was published in The Journal of Pain. His team included researchers from Stanford University, Boston University and the University of Innsbruck.
The team wanted to understand how anger affects people with chronic pain, using a technique called latent profile analysis to divide participants into different groups based on how they experienced and dealt with anger.
In total, they identified four unique “anger profiles.” These profiles looked at things like how easily a person gets angry, how much they hold on to anger, how they express it, and whether they feel their pain is unfair or represents a great loss.
The results were clear. People who showed moderate to high levels of both anger and feelings of injustice reported more severe pain, more parts of the body in pain, and more problems with their daily lives. They also had higher levels of emotional distress.
On the other hand, people who controlled their anger well and did not feel as bitter about their pain tended to have better outcomes. Their pain was less intense and they functioned better emotionally and physically.
Dr. Gilam says that anger in itself is not always bad. It’s a normal emotion that can even be useful if you manage it properly. But when anger mixes with the feeling that something unfair has happened – such as developing a painful condition without a cause – it can trap people in a harmful cycle.
The study suggests that treating chronic pain is not just about medication or physical therapy. It is also about dealing with the person’s emotions. Helping people understand and manage their anger can be an important step in helping them heal.
