The Hidden Cost of High Achievers

What Is Chronic Pain Syndrome?

Most of us are taught that pain means something is physically wrong.

You pull a muscle, you feel acute pain.
You break a bone, you know it.

But what happens when pain sticks around long after the injury heals?
Or worse, when there’s no clear injury at all?

Chronic pain is defined as pain that lasts longer than three months.
It can start after an injury, a period of high stress, or sometimes, seemingly out of nowhere, leading to persistent pain.

And here’s what many people don’t realise:

Chronic pain isn’t always a sign of damage or disease.
It’s often a sign that your brain and nervous system are stuck in protection mode.

In fact, no matter what causes pain, injury, illness, autoimmune disease, or stress, all pain is generated by the brain. That’s how we experience pain, and chronic pain can alter the brain’s perception of what is dangerous versus safe in the body.

The Truth About The Cause of Chronic Pain

One of the most common, but misunderstood, types of chronic pain is neuroplastic pain (also called primary or centralised pain).

Your brain is your body’s alarm system.
When it detects danger, it sends pain signals to protect you.

But just like an overly sensitive car alarm that goes off every time someone walks by, your brain can learn to send pain signals too often, or for the wrong reasons, a phenomenon observed inpatients with chronic pain.

It’s not made up. It’s not your fault that you experience chronic pain. And it’s not “just in your head.”

It’s your brain being too good at its job: keeping you safe.

In high achievers, this kind of pain often develops because the brain is constantly exposed to:

• High stress
• Unprocessed emotion
• Persistent muscle tension
• Suppressed signals to rest

Over time, this creates a state of hypervigilance, where the brain begins to treat neutral sensations, like movement, touch, or even emotion, as potential threats.

The result? Very real pain with no ongoing injury or disease.

All pain the brain generates is felt physically. It can be excruciating and overwhelming, even when there’s no structural damage.

The pain is always real.

Just like the brain can learn to walk, drive, or speak a second language, it can learn to produce pain, especially in cases of complex regional pain syndrome.

But here’s the good news: what your brain learned, through neural pathways built to protect you, it can also relearn. Those pathways can change.

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Two Types of Causes of Chronic Pain

Not all chronic pain is the same.

If you’ve been treating your pain like a physical injury but nothing’s helped, you might be working with the wrong kind of pain (neuropathic pain).

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Secondary Pain

This is what most people expect pain to be.

It starts with a clear cause, an injury, surgery, or illness, and usually improves as the body heals.

But sometimes, even after the physical issue is resolved, the pain doesn’t go away.

That’s because the brain can get stuck in a protective loop, continuing to send pain signals through the nervous system, even after the body has healed.

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Primary Pain

This is a type of pain that isn’t caused by ongoing tissue damage, often seen in people with chronic pain.

It’s caused by a misfiring alarm system in the brain, which can lead to chronic conditions.

The brain has become so sensitised by stress, fear, or past experiences that it sends out pain signal seven when there’s no real danger.

Research shows that this kind of pain is linked to conditions such as:

• Migraines and tension headaches
• TMJ or jaw pain
• Neck and back pain without injury
• Fibromyalgia
• IrritableBowel Syndrome (IBS)
• Pelvic pain
• Vertigo and dizziness
• Repetitive strain injury (RSI)
• Tinnitus
• Fatigue syndromes
• Anxiety

This kind of pain is real, but it’s learned. And just like the brain can learn pain, it can also learn to feel safe again.

Factors Associated with Chronic Pain

Even in autoimmune and inflammatory conditions like fibromyalgia, research shows that nervous system dysregulation often plays a role.

Stress, trauma, fear, and burnout can contribute to that dysregulation, shaping immune responses and inflammation.

When pain persists, the brain’s alarm system can stay switched on through neuroplastic pathways, keeping the pain going, even after the original biological triggers have settled.

How to Tell the Difference based on the Symptoms of Chronic Pain

If your pain:

• Moves around your body
• Gets worse with stress or emotion
• Doesn’t respond to medication or treatments
• Fluctuates without explanation
• Wasn’t clearly linked to a serious injury
• Started during a time of burnout, trauma, or high pressure

…it may be neuroplastic.

And that’s good news, because these pathways can change, your brain can relearn safety.

Why High Achievers Are More Prone to Pain and Chronic Pain

Now, here’s where it gets personal. Chronic pain doesn’t strike at random. It thrives in nervous systems that never get to rest.

That’s why high achievers, who carry the weight of performance on their shoulders, often find themselves trapped in it.

You’re driven, focused and resilient.You show up, no matter how exhausted you feel, especially when living with chronic pain.

But here’s the thing: your nervous system never gets a break. And that’s exactly why high achievers are more likely to develop chronic (neuroplastic) pain.

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The Brain Can’t Tell the Difference Between Danger and Pressure

Your brain is built to protect you, but it may also contribute to the experience of chronic pain.
When it senses threat, it sends out pain signals, just like an alarm, which can exacerbate chronic pain conditions.

But it doesn’t just respond to physical danger. It also responds to emotional load, burnout, perfectionism, and internal pressure.

If your days are full of:

• Pushing through fatigue
• Holding it all together
• Suppressing how you feel
• Constant performance demands

...then your brain might be interpreting that pressure as danger.

Over time, this “false alarm”becomes your brain’s new normal, triggering pain even when nothing is physically wrong.

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The Very Traits That Drive You... Can Also Trap You

Let’s name what no one tells you:

• Your resilience can become rigidity
• Your high standards can feed hyper vigilance
• Your drive can override your body’s signals, leading to a greater risk of developing chronic pain.

These traits help you succeed, but they can also lock your nervous system into a chronic state of stress.

And when your brain is always on alert, it starts treating everyday signals, movement, stress, emotion, as threats.

Pain is its way of saying: “Slowdown. Something’s not safe.”

This doesn’t mean you’re weak. It means your brain is doing exactly what it was designed to do, it’s justfollowing an outdated map of protection.

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Personality Traits That Make You More Vulnerable to Chronic Pain

Chronic pain doesn’t just show up out of nowhere.

It’s often the result of long-term patterns your brain and body have adapted to in order to keep you functioning.

Some traits don’t cause pain directly, but they put your nervous system under constant pressure. And overtime, that pressure adds up.

If any of these feel familiar, you’re not alone, and you’re not broken.

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High Achievers &Perfectionists

‍You’ve set high standards for yourself and met them. But your nervous system doesn’t get to rest. Even when you’re “off,” you’re thinking, planning, fixing.That internal pressure builds tension, and your brain learns to stay on alert, contributing to chronic pain conditions.

Overworkers &Burned-Out Professionals

You push through everything: deadlines, fatigue, emotions. But your nervous system wasn’t built for nonstop output. Chronic stress wires the brain to expect threat, even in safe situations, making persistent pain more likely and more intense.

People-Pleasers & Over-Functioners

‍You take responsibility for everything and everyone. You avoid conflict. Yourarely ask for help. The cost? Your body holds the tension of unspoken emotion.Suppressed stress doesn’t disappear, it shows up physically.

Those with Past Trauma or Emotional Neglect

If you were raised to push through, numb out, or never be “too much,” your nervous system likely learned to stay on high alert. This early survival wiring often becomes the foundation for chronic pain later in life.

None of these traits are flaws, they were adaptations, clever ones.

But now, your brain may be stuck in protection mode long after the danger has passed, which can contribute to developing chronic pain.

You’ve done what it takes to survive, especially in the face of chronic pain management challenges.

Now it’s time to teach your body and brain how to live, and lead, pain free.

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🌳 I’ve walked this road myself, and I know how heavy it can feel. That’s why I have built a community on Substack: Beyond Pain - The Fearless Mind and Body, to share the science, the language, and the roadmap to help you find your way back.