The secret your brain uses to decide how much pain you feel

our Twitter (X) feedView our Youtube channelView our Instagram feedView our Substack feedView our Spotify feed Pain isn't a signal from the body. It's a decision made by the brain. Pain psychologist Rachel Zoffness explains why hurt and harm are not the same, why most chronic back pain has no structural cause, and how sleep, stress, and loneliness become ingredients in your own personal pain recipe.

Rachel Zoffness is a leading global pain expert, pain psychologist, and thought leader in pain medicine. She is a faculty member at the UCSF School of Medicine, teaches pain science[…] Rachel Zoffness is a leading global pain expert, pain psychologist, and thought leader in pain medicine. Something in the body is broken, so we block the signal with medication or cut it out with surgery.

The opioid epidemic is what happens when that is the only model we have. Pain psychologist Rachel Zoffness explains why it is also an incomplete account of how pain works. Pain is constructed by the brain, out of biology, emotion, and environment at once.

Most chronic back pain has no identifiable structural cause, and 90% of us are walking around with abnormal spines and no pain at all. Sleep, stress, fear, and isolation are not side factors. They are ingredients in the pain itself.

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