I have learned about some of the psychology of pain before this class, so I was aware that sometimes stimuli can cause people to react to pain as if it were worse than it actually feels. I think that psychology has a big factor on pain and pain response. When I was younger, I split open my part of my skin right above my eyebrow and I began to cry when I saw blood in the mirror. I have also experienced this with bruising. I do not realize that I have a bruise or often times that my body hurts until I see the bruise. The way in which people perceive their surroundings has a big influence on pain. I think that pain is a biological response, but there are some psychological components, just like the man with the nail in his boot. I did not know that the body had the nociceptin system to help protect the body from pain by stimulating pain. I think that sometimes, just like in my examples above, the nociceptin system works as a way to tell the body to slow down and take time to heal from current injuries, even if they are not painful.
Many people in the world experience pain and there are even individuals who experience chronic pain. One of my friends has arthritis, and she experiences pain most days even though she receives treatment. Some people take opioids to reduce their pain and this has contributed to the opioid crisis in the United States. Another maladaptive way people cope with pain is catastrophizing their pain. People can look at their environment and see what is causing them pain, and they can think that it is much worse. I believe that this related to the psychological factor that can make pain appear worse. Another common coping mechanism is alcohol usage. People often turn to alcohol when they experience pain. Alcohol is also a common way in which people cope with stress, which has been shown to change the activity of nociceptin in the amygdala and reduce stress.
There are also many positive ways to deal with the pain that are better for people. One way is through cognitive reframe. This type of coping involved changing the way in which one views a situation. A person may view of pain as something that is unbearable and will last forever. If that person reframed their cognition, they could think that the pain is brief and that they could be experiencing much worse pain. This type of reframing is suggested by many psychologists as a way to also help alleviate stress and cope with pain. Another method is exercising. My friend who has arthritis actually feels much better when she dances. This movement of exercise is beneficial in many ways. It helps release endorphins and can cause people to go outside and get Vitamin D, which they may not otherwise be receiving. People also use imagery distraction. My sister recently sprained her foot, yet she did not show any signs of pain until she was home and no longer out with her friends. I have also seen this technique work in some of the children that I babysit. They may fall and start to cry, but as soon as they see a toy or their TV show, they stop crying. This distraction helps to turn the focus away from the pain, and it usually reduces the pain that people experience.
In a new study, Roberto and her colleges are targeting the NOP-coding gene in the amygdala. Stress can change the activity of the nociceptin the amygdala. When a stress hormone (CRF) increases, the neuron response can be reduced by adding nociceptin. Nociceptin can help reduce anxiety-like behaviors in rats by affecting the NOP-coping genes in the amygdala. Drugs such as morphine and heroin can act in the rewarding pathways of opioids. These drugs have a similar shape to nociceptin and can help treat chronic pain in many people. I think that using nociceptin as a way to help treat pain is very interesting, and this pathway occurs naturally in our bodies. This was a very interesting research find and I cannot wait to see its development.
Nociceptin: Nature's Balm for the Stressed Brain. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.scripps.edu/news-and-events/press-room/2014/20140108roberto.html.
Tabriz, E. R., Mohammadi, R., Roshandel, G. R., & Talebi, R. (2019). Pain Beliefs and Perceptions and Their Relationship with Coping Strategies, Stress, Anxiety, and Depression in Patients with Cancer. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6388584/
TED-Ed. The mysterious science of pain - Joshua W. Pate. TED. https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-mysterious-science-of-pain-joshua-w-pate.