The Link Between Stress and Chronic Pain: What Clinicians Need to Know

How Stress and Pain Reinforce Each Other

Chronic stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, leading to muscle tension, poor circulation, shallow breathing, and sleep disruption. Over time, these physiological responses can increase sensitivity to pain, compress nerves, and exacerbate trigger points.

This creates a self-perpetuating loop: pain causes stress, and stress amplifies pain.

What Happens to the Nervous System Under Stress

When the body is in a sympathetic state, it prepares for threat. Blood flow moves away from digestion and into the limbs. Breathing becomes shallow. Muscles brace, even at rest.

While helpful in acute danger, prolonged sympathetic activation increases sensitivity and strain, especially in those with chronic pain.

This is often referred to as a lowered pain response baseline, meaning the threshold for discomfort becomes more easily triggered. Patients may begin to experience more pain from less stimulus. For the patient, this can mean they are feeling more pain on a daily basis, and they may experience increased pain as time goes on and the baseline lowers further.

Patients in this state may report:

• Difficulty sleeping
• Increased emotional reactivity
• Physical restlessness
• Heightened sensitivity to pain

How Relaxation Techniques Can Disrupt the Loop

Helping patients shift toward parasympathetic regulation, also called rest and restore mode, can reduce physiological tension and improve overall resilience.

Techniques supported by current research include:

• Diaphragmatic breathing
• Progressive and passive muscle relaxation
• Guided imagery
• Low-frequency music to support nervous system downregulation

These interventions may promote relaxation and improve autonomic balance, which supports a calmer baseline for nervous system activity.

How the Limitless App Helps Support These Techniques

The Limitless App includes audio-guided tools developed to promote nervous system regulation and stress resilience. These tools are designed for use before, during, and after treatment sessions, depending on clinical context.

The app supports:

• Diaphragmatic breathing with breath pacing cues
• Structured muscle relaxation tracks
• Guided imagery for grounding and focus
• Music-informed experiences to support parasympathetic tone

While these tools are not pain treatments, they may help reduce nervous system patterns that reinforce pain perception.

What Daily Tools Support Stress Resilience?

Mindset Microdoses are short, guided experiences available in the Limitless App. They teach patients foundational nervous system regulation strategies they can apply daily, independent of medicine sessions.

These include:

• Breath-focused mindfulness
• Cognitive reframing techniques
• Awareness practices that support nervous system regulation
• Guided imagery, meditation, and body scanning

Each Mindset Microdose supports patient education and skill-building for long-term emotional regulation and somatic awareness.

Learn more here: https://www.limitlessguidedvisualizations.com/mindset-microdoses

Use Cases Across Specialties

While the Limitless App was initially designed for use alongside ketamine therapy, its tools are increasingly applied in broader clinical settings, including:

• Oncology support programs
• TMS and neuromodulation clinics
• Mental health and trauma recovery
• Functional and integrative medicine practices
• Group-based therapy programs and retreats

Clinics report improved patient readiness, calmer session starts, and increased engagement with care plans across modalities.