Responsibility clamp: expert explains how headaches are linked to the amount of worrying we do

More than 20% of the population suffer from migraines, and 70 out of 100 people experience regular headaches – this is what medical statistics tell us. The sources of this can be not only somatic causes, i.e. various bodily diseases, but also psychosomatic – the influence of psychological factors on the occurrence of health problems.

psychologist, certified psycholinguist and counselor with international ICF certification

“I will tell you what head, neck and occipital pain can actually be associated with and how to deal with it.”

How psychosomatics works

Psychosomatics is a separate branch of medicine that studies how feelings and experiences affect a person’s physical body and health. Various psychological causes, such as a lack of positive emotions, bad moods, anxiety, stress, can cause somatic diseases.

The fact is that each muscle group has a connection with certain emotions, and when a person is going through some difficult state or feeling, there is a certain clamping in the muscle group and by it you can actually identify mental tension. Mental tension is what thought triggers a certain emotion and affects the emotional state.

So where do we get psychosomatic illnesses from?

They are provoked by psychogenic factors – essentially nothing more than a stereotypical bodily reaction to some stress. For example, after a big fight with parents, a child may not sleep well all night, and in the morning before school he will have stomach pains or migraine associated with long thinking and heavy emotions experienced.

Psychological psychosomatics looks for the cause in metaphysics, that is, analyzes our thoughts and deep beliefs that arise and affect the tension in the body, causing various diseases of the somatic plan.

Why head and neck pain

To begin with, it should be said that the neck is a symbol of flexibility, because without it we would not be able to turn our head, look in different directions. This flexibility depends on the health of the neck vertebrae, muscles, and if a person has internal problems and conflicts, for example, when he takes on a lot of responsibility, then excessive tension leads to the appearance of pain.

Many experts have defined the neck and shoulders as a “responsibility clamp”, and clients who come in with a problem in this area are immediately asked if they take on too many tasks, if they know how to set personal boundaries, if they are flexible enough.

In addition, the human vocal cords and thyroid gland are located in the neck area. The latter acts as our shield, an assistant to the immune system, and the ligaments are responsible for the ability to speak, to sound. And often problems in the neck and thyroid gland appear when a person takes on a lot of responsibility, because he was not able to say “no”, did not build boundaries.

It is also very often the case that a person is afraid of judgment from people, which can cause spasms in the head and neck. He cares so much about outside opinions that subconsciously he forbids himself to disappoint, to move where he wants to go, and to act according to his desires.

In other words, he puts himself an energy block that provokes muscle clamps. The subconscious prohibition of realizing one’s desires and expressing oneself can also lead to psychosomatic sore throat.

Psychosomatics of pain in the back of the throat

One of the frequent causes of pain in the back of the head is cervical osteochondrosis, which is provoked by unnatural body posture. This leads to an incorrect position of the vertebrae and degenerative-dystrophic changes in the intervertebral discs, which can be caused by both somatics, that is, elementary sedentary behavior and increased load, and psychosomatics.

Psychosomatic pain in the back of the head, as well as in the neck and shoulders, may indicate a mental conflict with oneself. The back of the head itself symbolizes an area of strength, and if it is under tension, pains occur.

What experiences can they be caused by?

For example, a person’s fear that he did not fight back, or stress about the fact that he could have done something better, be stronger. This is often the case with athletes who additionally assume responsibility for the success of the team and even the whole country – it is an inordinately high psychological pressure and fear of not giving their best, not to show all their strength.

Also pain in the back of the head can be caused not by diseases, but by muscle fatigue and increased intracranial pressure, which arise against the background of high psychological tension, anxiety, stress or hypothetical worries about what has not yet happened. Sharp pains provoke trapped occipital nerve and disrupted blood supply to the brain.

Very often it happens that a person simply wants to become invisible, because he is now not sure of himself, for example, he has a bad reputation because of a loss and there is a need to run away, hide, “pull his head in”.

How to cope with pain caused by psychosomatics

“First aid” in this case, you can give yourself the following: relax, stand up straight, bend your head and lower your shoulders. Then bend your elbows and raise them to shoulder level, spread your arms apart so that your shoulder blades touch each other and there is a general feeling as if you are throwing something off.

Along with the shoulder movement, you can say loudly, “Get off me” or “Get off and go away.” Repeat these movements several times and put into words all the feelings that come to mind, including irritation and anger. In this way you will psychologically throw off the burden.

And in a large-scale sense it is worth to analyze what is happening to your body and consciousness, what period in your life you are experiencing and what feelings it causes. Analyze what you are really afraid of, how heavy this burden is and what may be the cause of psychosomatic pains in the neck, head or occiput.

All our feelings and desires do not go anywhere – they remain in the body in the form of certain trapped emotions, blocked energies and provoke muscle spasms. Subsequently, problems begin to manifest themselves in other organs to which our muscles are geographically connected.

For example, pain on the right and left side of the body can indicate an internal imbalance. Pain concentrated on the left side means that a person relies too much on logic and does not allow their emotions and feelings to manifest.

If the pain appears on the right side, then a person perceives stubbornness and firmness of character as negative traits, and to protect and defend himself it is quite difficult, because it is not enough determination. That is why it is worth being more attentive to your emotions, analyze them, build personal boundaries and try to avoid unnecessary stress.