When you break your foot, the pain is mostly confined to your foot. When you get the flu or another systemic infection, your entire being aches: Lethargy creeps into your limbs, your appetite vanishes, your temperature jags between scorching and chilled to the bone, and you just want to pull the covers over your head.
This kind of overpowering mind-body malaise is known as “sickness syndrome,” and it’s considered a distinct physiological and emotional state. Scientists believe sickness syndrome helps the body prepare to fight infections, but they don’t fully understand what is happening in the brain when this storm cloud descends.
Read more: “How to Unlearn a Disease”
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