Chronic Pain is one of the
most difficult and troubling health problems confronting our society. It has been conservatively
estimated that one in 10 people in the U.S. suffers from some form of chronic
pain - defined here as pain that persists
for 6 months or longer. If
you are someone living with chronic pain, it is important to know that chronic
pain does not have to shut down your life, stop you from living a meaningful
life. A therapist, knowledgeable of the
challenges of living with chronic pain, can help you
to prevent this from happening. This
article addresses how a therapist can be helpful to you.
Assisting you in leading as active a life as possible,
reversing the tendency of chronic pain sufferers to become sedentary,
physically inactive.
Reduced physical activity and
a sedentary life style is a common consequence of chronic
pain and can actually increase your physical distress. Reduced physical
activity leads to muscle inflexibility, loss of strength and physical stamina,
weight gain due to inactivity. It can increase sleep difficulties, contribute
to a sense of uselessness, and intensify feelings of depression and
hopelessness. A therapist, with an understanding of how chronic pain differs
from acute pain (which yells STOP as we are causing damage to our bodies) can
help you:
· To manage understandable fears of injury that will
prevent you from resuming safe physical activities
· To learn how to avoid exacerbating pain symptoms by
pacing physical activities, learning safe exercises, and managing the urge to
overdo activities on days you’re feeling better.
· To overcome reluctance, feelings of intimidation to
communicating to medical and health providers important lifestyle activities (
work, hobbies, recreational activities, travel) you hope to be able to resume,
to getting advice on safe ways to resume these, and to keep providers informed
of symptom changes that may need further attention.
By promoting a healthier state of mind, fostering hope for a better future.
A therapist who works with chronic pain patients needs
to be knowledgeable of the mind-body connection. This means knowing how
physical pain can affect emotions and thinking patterns, and how emotional
distress and negative-pessimistic thinking can intensify already existing
pain. An experienced therapist can help with:
· Self-calming strategies and techniques to reduce the
physical tension that stress creates that can increase pain, interfere with
restful sleep, and wear you down. These strategies and techniques can also
reduce the need to rely on medications that have troubling side effects.
· Managing overly pessimistic and unrealistic thinking
that can intensify feeling of depression and hopelessness, and make it harder
to cope.
· Assistance in facing and resolving conflicts or stress
in important relationships that can intensify pain.
· Gaining acceptance of the loss of hope for a cure, and
facing the reality of a future life with some degree of pain. This is a difficult pill for anyone to
swallow, but it is particularly hard if you’ve experienced significant painful
losses earlier in life. However
it is necessary for constructive coping to replace the desperate and
unrealistic searching for a cure.
A therapist can help prevent the social withdrawal and
isolation that can occur with chronic pain.
When living with chronic
pain, there can be an understandable tendency to withdraw from family and
friends as part of a desire to not burden or distress them, or to avoid having
to deal with misunderstanding, skepticism or negative judgment from
others. This can be particularly strong
when you don’t have any obvious handicap or physical abnormality. This tendency to withdraw in anticipation
that people will disappoint or let you down can be very strong if you’ve had
repeated experience of disappointment, hurt, or rejection from important people
earlier in life. This withdrawal from
people and loss of emotional support, understanding, and comfort can intensify
feelings of isolation, loneliness, and depression. A therapist can help you:
· To manage fears of disappointment and rejection so
you’re more willing to lean on others for support, understanding,
encouragement, comfort.
· To overcome fears of assertiveness or a tendency to be
submissive so you can advocate for your needs for understanding and information
in order to take good care or yourself, make informed decisions about your
medical care.
· To be able to voice understandable fears of burdening
loved ones or of them “getting fed up” with your pain, so that important
emotional connections are not lost.
· To resume and strengthen sexual relationships that have
been curtailed by chronic pain.
A therapist can work with you to find ways to live as
full and constructive a life as possible.
This is extremely important
as we all need to feel a sense of purpose in life, to experience ourselves as
making a valuable contribution, as being needed by and helpful to others. A therapist can be helpful to you:
· By supporting your efforts to face the loss of
previously gratifying and valued activities, roles, jobs and either redefine
these, or create new ways to contribute that are equally satisfying for you.
· By helping you manage the frustration,
uncertainty, self-doubts, and fears you may encounter so you don’t give up on
the difficult but important work of fashioning new ways for you to lead a full
and meaningful life.
