Serotonin is not just for depression--it's potent for pain relief as well. Here's a drug-free way you may be able to increase your supply of this natural painkiller.

If you're taking the depression meds known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) to increase the serotonin available in your brain, you already know that more serotonin can mean less pain. That's because it improves your mood, making pain less noticeable.

Fortunately the above is only the first of four positive effects of serotonin on pain. The other three are as follows:

Serotonin blocks the perception of pain in the brain. It is dispatched to the area of the spinal cord where substance P is being released, helping to counteract it. This goes beyond mood--it's a physical suppressing of the pain signal.

Serotonin increases the flexibility of veins, arteries and capillaries. The more flexible they are, the less likely they are to generate pain.

Serotonin is linked in some way to sleep. Science isn't sure whether serotonin facilitates sleep, or whether sleep restores serotonin. Regardless of which is accurate, both sleep and serotonin have a positive impact on pain.

The beneficial impact of serotonin could possibly help back pain or pain in the neck or other extremities, arthritis pain, fibromyalgia pain, or neuropathic pain (nerve pain).

The Visualization Connection

Through visualization statements it may be possible to focus your subconscious on increasing the impact of serotonin on the pain process.

Visualization statements represent the specific language that your subconscious wants you to read back to it to help ease your pain. Theyre simple and are targeted directly at the main factors that could bring you relief.

You can obtain these statements by learning how to communicate directly with your own subconscious mind. The process is straightforward and can be done at home by working with a facilitator over the telephone. You you need no special skills and no previous experience in working with the subconscious.

Serotonin Without Drugs

In our work we've seen that the subconscious seems willing and able to identify whether serotonin needs to be increased to relieve pain, and to identify the visualization statements helpful to bring about that increase. Visualizing more serotonin may give you an additional way to realize its benefits without taking more drugs.