[tiger8]

Since I've got into this very crazy situation with my bf that emotionally is very unclear to me, intimacy vs distance issues etc., I've had this pain come and go:

- painful spots in chest/back, sometimes some sort of pressure as well. This feels physical. I do not usually feel any explicit emotion accompanying it.

My question: Is this kind of pain commonly experienced by people in heavy stress?

More background: I have highly alexithymic traits. I was in stressful situations before but they were not affecting me emotionally. I used to be very closed but I'm more open now (long story, and I'm not sure if I'm not TOO open now, from one extreme to the next!) and this pain thingy is unfamiliar to me.

One more characteristics I noticed is, I had it a couple weeks ago the first time - which was not even this situation as it explicitly didn't start yet but I was reading some book on emotions and something affected me EXTREMELY negatively - and I noticed that even though the emotion itself only lasted for a short time, the after-effect in the chest/back was still around next day.

In this first case, I did have an extremely negative emotion that led to it, yes, since then not really any conscious emotion that I could see as connected to the pains. It sure felt like dying tho' with that emotion, it was that extreme. I would name it but I can't, I just know how bad it was. I don't think I even saw it "fully" if that makes sense. It was unfamiliar, too.

I appreciate any input.

[Aviza]

See a dermatologist. They can best diagnose.

[tiger8]

Originally Posted by Aviza

See a dermatologist. They can best diagnose.

I just wanted to know if this happens to people in heavy stress before going all hypochonder on this ??

It's definitely not a skin condition btw, it's more internal than the skin

[Thunder Bow]

You were just feeling a connection to some of your own feelings when reading the book. They stayed with you for awhile.

[tiger8]

Originally Posted by Thunder Bow

You were just feeling a connection to some of your own feelings when reading the book. They stayed with you for awhile.

That's possible but you are using the past tense. For me this chest thingy is still ongoing and it bothers me because I don't know what it is and if I should deal with it in any way and if it can get worse.

And the emotional feeling I had reading that stuff is no longer there or not accessible. and this is no longer directly about the book I read since I had the second reaction to the situation with my bf. This second, ongoing, reaction is what is just about the chest and hardly any feeling is there beyond that physical seeming pain.

If you have any thoughts on this please let me know.

I'm not really sure what you are describing but I wonder if it is a physical manifestation of muscular tension.

Have you tried yoga? It's very good for both relaxation and building balance/strength. Maybe it could help.

[Thunder Bow]

I looks like you do have somethings you need to get off your chest.

[tiger8]

Originally Posted by prefabsprout

I'm not really sure what you are describing but I wonder if it is a physical manifestation of muscular tension.

Have you tried yoga? It's very good for both relaxation and building balance/strength. Maybe it could help.

I wondered about muscles too - breathing muscles?

I can't really do yoga, too tight muscles for it in general and when I tried I didn't really find anything special about it. The kind of relaxation it offered wasn't anything new

[tiger8]

Originally Posted by Thunder Bow

I looks like you do have somethings you need to get off your chest.

How do I do that?

[Thunder Bow]

Only way you can do that, is to take the risk of expressing yourself, and share what is in your heart.

[tiger8]

Originally Posted by Thunder Bow

Only way you can do that, is to take the risk of expressing yourself, and share what is in your heart.

How do I get aware of it enough so that I can put it into words before the question of expressing and sharing comes up?

And, share with who?

Thanks

[Thunder Bow]

Start by sharing with those you trust. You are already aware. Just with that.

[tiger8]

Originally Posted by Thunder Bow

Start by sharing with those you trust. You are already aware. Just with that.

What makes you think I'm aware ?!

I said the physical thing in the chest/back doesn't usually come with any emotion that I'd be aware of.

I can have guesses at what the emotion would be but I don't understand what I do with that then. I can talk about it in an apparently too analytical way. This is what I've repeatedly been told. And it doesn't really result in any emotional release.