Scientists reveal a more dangerous factor than stress: Most of us are prone to it

Stress usually adds to pain, it’s a well-known fact.

But a new study shows that anger, especially when combined with a sense of unfairness—might be even more powerful in making chronic pain last longer and feel more intense.

Researchers studied over 700 adults who were dealing with chronic pain and they found that how a person feels and expresses anger may play a big role in how much pain they feel as well as how long the pain lasts.

People who felt deeply wronged or unfairly treated because of their condition were more likely to report worse pain months later.

This study was led by Dr. Gadi Gilam, who runs the tSCAN lab at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and it was published in The Journal of Pain. His team included researchers from Stanford University, Boston University, and the University of Innsbruck.

The team wanted to understand how anger affects people living with chronic pain, using a technique called latent profile analysis to sort the participants into different groups based on how they experienced and handled anger.

In total, they identified four unique “anger profiles.” These profiles looked at things like how easily someone gets angry, how much they hold onto anger, how they express it, and whether they feel that their pain is unfair or represents a major loss.

The results were clear. People who showed medium to high levels of both anger and feelings of injustice reported more severe pain, more areas of the body in pain, and more problems with their daily lives. They also had higher levels of emotional suffering.

On the other hand, people who managed their anger well and didn’t feel so bitter about their pain generally had better outcomes. Their pain was less intense, and they functioned better emotionally and physically.

Dr. Gilam says that anger itself isn’t always bad. It’s a normal emotion that can even be helpful when controlled properly. But when anger gets mixed with the feeling that something unfair has happened—like getting a painful condition without cause—it can trap people in a harmful cycle.

The study suggests that treating chronic pain isn’t just about medication or physical therapy. It’s also about treating the person’s emotions. Helping people understand and manage their anger could be an important step in helping them heal.