Coping with Chronic Pain |
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| It’s there all right. It is always nagging at you. You wake up with it and go to bed with it. You wish it was gone and would love to be pain-free. Maybe you have become dependent upon medications prescribed by well-meaning physicians and you need more and more of the same medications to cut the edge of the pain. You obsess about your pain or maybe you feel prisoner to it. As much as it is common to feel helpless to conditions causing chronic pain, there are things you can do. | ||
| One of the most important coping mechanisms in dealing with chronic pain is to accept that you will likely never live pain-free again. As you begin to accept the reality of living with a chronic pain condition, you can take steps to ensure better coping, better respect of your limitations and less depression from having unrealistic expectations that leave you falling short of goals that are not possible to achieve. When you feel like a victim, you will be angry all the time. Feeling angry is normal at first, but long-held chronic anger will likely stoke your production of fight-flight hormones that are not necessary for use in daily living. As your body readies itself for fight or flight by producing adrenalin, cortisol, norepinephrine and other physiological changes, when these changes are not acted upon or used up in exercise, these changes just tax the immune system. | ||
| It is normal to feel depressed due to loss of a pain-free lifestyle and due to letting go of activities that you used to be able to do and can no longer do without added pain. It is normal to feel resentment and guilt and a sense of “Why me?” Over time, however, it is vital to change your perceptions to get on with your life. There are always things you can do, whether physical or mental. Christopher Reeves is an example of a man who has changed the way he feels fulfilled in life. He no longer rides horses or can walk, but he is using his mind to write books, to push research in spinal cord injuries and to promote funding for further research. He has not given up on life and he finds fulfillment in new ways because he has to. | ||
| So do you have to make changes. You will not only change your physical activities to be in line with your abilities, but you will also have to change your perceptions of your own value in life, your value to others, your willingness to ask for help, your habits of doing too much yourself to avoid looking weak, helpless or in need. You will have to learn to ask for support, to tell people your limitations and to accept those limitations without feeling guilty or depressed. | ||
| In slowing down, you will find that you have more time to think, feel and plan. You can use this awareness and time to wallow in your pain, or you can use this time to focus on what you can do, what you need to change and on how you can cope better. Meditation and relaxation training are incompatible with pain. The more you can use your mind to relax your body, the more you will inoculate yourself against the full thrust of pain perception. | ||
| Sleep is curative. The best way to get sleep is to condition yourself to get sleep. Get out of bed if you have been tossing and turning and unable to sleep for more than 15 minutes. At that time, write your thoughts and feelings down on paper. Empty your mind from all kinds of thoughts floating around or from thinking about all the things you must accomplish tomorrow or the next day. Next, read or write creatively or do some other relaxing activity until you get tired again. Be sure to not eat heavily late at night. Eat light carbohydrates for an after dinner snack. No caffeine or chocolate after diner as it has caffeine in it. Take a warm bath before bed and keep your room very dark and cool for optimal sleeping condition. | ||
| Attitude is everything. People have many problems. Many of their problems are worse than yours. You have a real problem with real limitations, no doubt. Yet, this is your deck of cards to play in life. You can let them keep you down and depressed or accept your cards and do whatever is in your power to enjoy the life you have. |
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This article was written by Dr. Laurel A. Sills, a Fully Licensed Clinical Psychologist (since 1987) and Life Coach. She provides direct, down-to-earth, short-term therapy with long-term results. She is passionate in her work and will help you stay motivated to change your life with regular commitment to changing habits in thinking and behaving. See her website at: www.DrLSills.com or www.BuildAStrongerYou.com |
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Copyright 2006© Laurel A. Sills, Psy.D. All rights reserved Back to Articles |