Is Pain Purely A Physical Sensation?
Many people think of pain as a purely physical sensation. However, pain has biological, psychological and emotional factors. Moreover, chronic pain can cause feelings such as anger, hopelessness, sadness and anxiety. In order to treat pain effectively, you must address the physical, emotional and psychological aspects.
Understanding and managing the thoughts, emotions and behaviors that accompany the discomfort can help you cope more effectively with your pain and can actually reduce it’s intensity.
A few tips on how you can cope with chronic pain:
1. Stay active- Pain itself or the fear of pain can cause people to stop doing the things they enjoy. It’s important not to let pain take over your life. So staying active and doing things that you enjoy can alleviate the feelings of anger, hopelessness, sadness and anxiety.
2. Exercise- Staying healthy with low-impact exercises such as stretching, yoga, walking and swimming can help with not only managing chronic pain, but also having a positive effect on your mood.
3. Make social connections- call a friend, invite someone over for dinner or make a date for a tea/coffee with a pal you haven’t seen in a while. Research shows that people with greater social support are more resilient and experience less depression and anxiety.
4.Follow prescriptions carefully- If medications are part of your treatment plan, be sure to use them as prescribed by your doctor to avoid possible dangerous side effects. In addition to helping you develop better ways to cope with and manage pain, a counsellor can also help you develop a routine to stay on track with your treatment.