Internaonal Pain Foundaon—37
one that is available 24/7. Anyone
in suicidal crisis or emotional distress
can contact a counselor via
live chat by going to suicidepreventionlifeline.
org or via phone
by calling their toll-free number,
800-273-8255.
For those of you who aren't in immediate
emotional crisis and are
curious as to where to begin in
developing a healthier skillset to
manage your chronic pain, below,
are 5 of my most heavily relied
upon self-management techniques
I use.
Believe In Something
Greater Than
Yourself
Chronic pain begs the question,
"why?" Our minds are a funny
thing: It will continue to ask
"why" until we give it an acceptable
answer. Until then, our minds
will cycle through questions like,
"why did this happen to me? Alternatively,
why was I the one
chosen for this?" Why, why, why?
However, when we believe in
something greater than ourselves,
regardless of the name we attach
to it, (i.e., faith, spirituality, religion,
God, a "Higher Power", and/
or "The Universe") the question
of "why" is answered simply by
saying we need not know "the answer"
in order to move forward.
Faith, spirituality and/or religion
teaches us to relinquish control, to
accept that we can't always rely
on our own understanding and to
believe that all of us are one small
(but essential) piece to a much
larger picture - that our life experience,
our emotional and physical
pain can all be used for a bigger
meaningful purpose. There is
beauty, peace, and reassurance in
that simplicity.
Learn To Be Grateful
Gratefulness seems like a ridiculous
concept when your body is
being ravaged by pain. Gratefulness
is a learned behavior - and
often, learned behaviors are hard
to learn! Gratefulness, contrary to
popular belief, does not come naturally
for most adults. We must
continually remind, reset, and redirect
our brains to see the positive
that surrounds us daily. In
other words, what we focus on
expands - so the more we focus
on negativity, the more we experience
negativity - conversely, the
more we focus on being positive,
the more positive experiences we
can and will have the opportunity
to enjoy.
Think about all of the very "basic"
things we take for granted on a
daily basis...our eyesight and
hearing, the ability to feel the
warm sun on our skin, the sound
of our child's voice, the unconditional
love of our family, the
health we do have, the pain we
don't feel, the illnesses we aren't
plagued with. There's a misconception
that being grateful negates
the pain that you're feeling; Gratefulness
mitigates it.
Please Repeat After
Me: Good or Bad;
Nothing Lasts
Forever
One of the most influential people
in my life taught me this incredibly
simple but incredibly effective
lesson. When we are suffering in
any kind of pain, our mind convinces
us that there is no end in
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