5. Abuse
There is a significant number of patients with fibromyalgia that report a personal history of abuse. They have lived in one or more extremely stressful situations. The abuse reported is sometimes physical, like being victims of domestic violence, or having been involved in some sort of sustained situation of physical pain or attacks.
In other cases, they report psychological abuse, such as being the object of continuous denigration, bullying, discrimination, or personal attacks. And sometimes, they have experienced both physical and mental abuse. Scientists believe that the constant exposure to abusive situations might increase the likelihood of developing fibromyalgia because it could influence the way the nervous system processes pain, especially since the same circuits process physical and mental suffering.
The same happens with stress. Constant and early exposure to violence and painful experiences might increase the sensibility of the nervous system to future experiences of pain or misery.