Anne Lundbom W00623780

Physio 12 - MWF 8am Lecture - W 9am Lab 09-22-2011

Does Misery Love Company? The Relationship Between Social and Physical Pain
As a martial arts instructor, fitness trainer, and athlete, the concept of pushing through discomfort, pain, or injury while exercising to achieve goals is not just familiar to me, but central to the general idea of physical training. In the sports and fitness communities, discussion around what factors contribute to pain tolerance and how it affects performance has been primarily just been conjecture. In recent times, the fields of sports psychology and exercise physiology have grown in leaps and bounds. Through the Internet and fitness journals such as The CrossFit Journal, trainers, dedicated athletes, and the general public now have access to the science of exercise physiology. My personal connection to the subject is my history of battling late-stage lyme disease for 6 years. Although I had severe lyme arthritis in all of my joints, I remained active maintaining my fitness and physical skills as much as possible despite the disabling condition and pain. My doctor cited my incredible pain tolerance in my ability to remain physically active and my recovery was partly attributed to my exercise. He also called me out by acknowledging how isolating and socially painful it is to not have people believe you are seriously ill because you can tolerate pain and carry out daily tasks. According to recent research, pain tolerance is not simply a matter of willpower or genetics, but is closely linked to the social nature of humans and the relationship between social and physical pain. (Psychological Bulletin 131.2 (2005): 202-23.) In the article "The Ultimate Painkiller?" in The CrossFit Journal, Dr. Platek proposes that due to the community and camaraderie of CrossFit participants in their home gyms and globally, the participants are able to endure more grueling and painful workouts. (The CrossFit Journal 2010. June 1-6.) Interestingly, the brain uses similar pathways for social and physical pain. (Science, 302(5643), 290-292.) Essentially, this means the pain from being romantically broken-up with and the pain from doing 1000 push-ups is felt in a similar fashion. Studies have shown that physical painkillers can be used to reduce social pain. (National Academy of Sciences 106: 15079-15084, 2009.) Platek hypothesizes that the reverse may also be true. If camaraderie reduces social pain, it may also reduce physical pain as well. Those who have experienced long-term social rejection and exclusion may also have higher physical pain tolerance due to the emotional numbing effect. (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 91.1 (2006): 1-15.) While it is not considered healthy, this insensitivity to pain due to longer term social exclusion is a survival mechanism. This is further evidence of the interrelatedness of the social and physical pain pathways. This research has influenced the way I will structure future fitness classes for my students. It certainly helps to explain why CrossFit has been so much more successful in producing sustainable fitness results when compared to any other publicly available fitness program. I look forward to seeing more research on the effects of camaraderie and social isolation in training and competition results. I am curious to find out the social backgrounds of various types of elite athletes to see who thrived as a result of great social support, who thrived after experiencing childhood and adolescent social exclusion, and some combination of the two. This area of research may also provide new non-drug based methods for treating sufferers of various types of serious and chronic pain.

Anne Lundbom W00623780

Physio 12 - MWF 8am Lecture - W 9am Lab 09-22-2011 Works Cited

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