Chest Pain in the Emergency Room

"Six and a half million people cannot be wrong, or could they? Millions of people each year go to the emergency room with chest pain, believing they are experiencing a heart attack, but are not. Fifty percent of all emergency room patients with chest pain have discomfort brought on by stress and anxiety. While psychogenic pain is a well-understood phenomenon in medicine, the association between chest pain, stress, and anxiety is not widely known to the public."

"For some patients, the episodic bouts of pain become chronic, leading them to seek extensive medical testing. For these individuals, sitting down with a psychologist to discuss a "medical issue" is not a relief, but a point of personal failure and frustration. Patients may feel that the entire medical system has failed them for not finding the real cause of their chronic, debilitating pain that impacts their sleep, work, relationships, and physical functioning."

"The Mind-Body Connection My father would often remind me, "A person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still." How do we help a person who experiences physical distress but has no medical basis for what is happening? My approach is to help people understand that the mind-body connection is a very sound medical explanation for what they are experiencing-an explanation they have likely never heard before."

Chest pain is a serious medical symptom that prompts millions of emergency visits each year. Approximately fifty percent of emergency patients with chest pain have symptoms triggered by stress and anxiety rather than cardiac disease. Psychogenic pain is a recognized medical phenomenon, but the link between chest pain and psychological factors is not widely understood. Episodic chest pain can become chronic and lead to extensive medical testing and referrals to behavioral health. Many patients feel frustrated or failed by the medical system when no physical cause is found. Educating patients about the mind-body connection and addressing stress and anxiety can reduce chronic pain and improve functioning.

Read at Psychology Today