Social interaction causing physical sickness
I have had a lifelong food intolerance / irritable bowel syndrome / gastric reflux set of physical symptoms which has been investigated and diagnosed (as much as that is possible) as irritable bowel syndrome. I have done all the exclusion diets and food diary stuff without much success - some foods, such as animal fats or processed meat, make things worse and some make things better. There is no clear correlation between sickness and any food item or food type.
But I now see a direct correlation between social interaction (especially stressful interaction) and physical abdominal symptoms. These are not mild symptoms, but vomiting, alternating constipation and diarrhea, bloody stools and so forth. I consistently have these symptoms after most visits to my psych, during holidays and after unexpected visitors - usually lasting one or two days after the event. In the past I have always found some guilty food item (e.g. food on holidays is always guilty), but without finding a consistent pattern.
Now that I see it, the association between social stress and physical illness is blindingly obvious. I have a cat who is exactly the same - he vomits and craps all over the house after every vet checkup, and with unexpected visitors. It is such a strong effect that I am surprised that my doctor and psych have never discussed it - especially as I have had every intrusive investigation of my orifices known to medicine, without a useful outcome.
Does anyone else have the same social-induced sickness?
IBS can be related to stress. If you are very stressed by social interaction then it makes sense. I have it too, I don't know if stress affects much or not. I think mine is due to drinking too much coffee, although I have noticed that I'm more sensitive to other things than I used to be.
Brain injuries - concussions - can cause an array of consequences from sensory overload to digestion challenges. Many brain injuries - even mild brain injuries - have life long consequences.
http://www.sportsconcussions.org/
http://www.sportsconcussions.org/concussion-basics.html
leejosepho
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Location: 200 miles south of Little Rock
Does anyone else have the same social-induced sickness?
Our symptoms here are not as pronounced as yours, but yes, most definitely.
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We came up with this idea of "social calories" when discussing our daughter (and other teenagers / young adults) and her internet versus face-to-face social interaction. You could describe different interactions as contributing to total social calories, empty social calories, high-carb social calories, and high glycemic index social calories. Everyone needs calories, some people like a sugar-high, everyone suffers from too many calories. We didn't take the idea much further, but I certainly see the internet as changing the social environment beyond recognition from my (running water and electric light) childhood.
The association between stress (social or otherwise) is well documented in animals - pets suffer severe gastrointestinal upsets with routine changes and competition, and the effect of stress on farm animals has huge costs. But doctors don't seem so aware of the effect in humans.
I know a lot of vocal people with ASD claim an association between autism / Aspergers and gastrointestinal symptoms, and that epidemiological studies do not back that up. I wonder if the experience of abdominal pain and other symptoms, associated with stress, is more frequent with ASD, without a diagnosable condition?
Excess social interaction - especially in a crowded, small space and/or when I'm forced to meet a lot of new people - does cause me stress. Obviously stress can manifest itself in physical symptoms, so this makes total sense. Your case might be extreme, but it's not at all surprising.
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I'm sure now I have a stomach ulcer due to dealing with people ,probably from my earlier years , as I had way too much anxiety and would tremble from nerves and get sick due to lowered immune functioning .
There were times to where I was barely hanging on due to exhaustion.
What I do seems to never be good enough in one way or another, and this is a 'correlate , and another correlate is that I find the 'social dynamic intrusive' - stressful ,when I look at myself in retrospect. ......(maybe I'm too sensitive, I dunno).
But I now see a direct correlation between social interaction (especially stressful interaction) and physical abdominal symptoms. These are not mild symptoms, but vomiting, alternating constipation and diarrhea, bloody stools and so forth. I consistently have these symptoms after most visits to my psych, during holidays and after unexpected visitors - usually lasting one or two days after the event. In the past I have always found some guilty food item (e.g. food on holidays is always guilty), but without finding a consistent pattern.
Now that I see it, the association between social stress and physical illness is blindingly obvious. I have a cat who is exactly the same - he vomits and craps all over the house after every vet checkup, and with unexpected visitors. It is such a strong effect that I am surprised that my doctor and psych have never discussed it - especially as I have had every intrusive investigation of my orifices known to medicine, without a useful outcome.
Does anyone else have the same social-induced sickness?
The above as if it was written by myself! I had IBS ever since I was a teenager, GERD, dyspepsia, gastritis, candida infections - all related to stress - i.e. socialisation. I'm also lactose intolerant and have problems digesting fibrous food, and also have tried many and varied diets and exclusion of foods that further exacerbate symptoms - but it's mostly stress related.
lately I've been doing worse and worse, to the point of isolating myself almost completely after having stomach cramps, vomiting and stomach flu as a consequence of socialising.
CockneyRebel
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I've just spent an hour, with two very strange women, not too long ago, and one of them was asking me some really stupid questions, and the other one was just staring, and not saying anything. I just stayed for supper, and than I went home, afterwards. I felt really sick, for a half an hour, after I left.
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leejosepho
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Location: 200 miles south of Little Rock
If that ever happens again, tell the person they are going to have to begin paying if they wish to continue staring.
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My search ended at 59 ... right here on WrongPlanet.
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