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Summary.
It’s well-known that our mental and physical experiences are often closely related. But in this piece, the author shares research that explores this connection on a macro scale. She and her coauthor analyzed data from 1.3 million people across 146 countries over 10 years to examine the connection between national unemployment rates and reported pain levels, and found that a 3% increase in a population’s unemployment rate was on average linked to a 1% increase in the number of people reporting physical pain. The analysis further found that this was largely driven by women: When unemployment increased, pain levels increased mostly among women rather than men. Based on these results, the author suggests that especially during economic downturns, employers should take steps to boost employees’ financial security, sense of agency and control, and other factors that can lead to mental and thus physical anguish.Studies have shown that around 30% of adults suffer from acute, intermittent, or chronic physical pain. And while this may seem like a purely physical issue, research suggests that psychological factors such as trauma, anxiety, and stress can create sensations of pain as real as those caused by physical injury or illness.