Chronic Pain messes with your mind. I can’t always explain it, but it just does!
I really don’t know right now how this is going to go, but you can’t completely deal with the affects of Chronic Pain without dealing with this aspect. Instead of trying to explain it with some major imagery, maybe explaining HOW it messes with your mind would be easier. So here goes…
When you stub your toe or have a tooth ache it hurts…H-U-R-T…hurts! You stop what you’re doing and immediately address the problem. Your toe may be bleeding and it’s throbbing. You may sit down and wait the pain out or you go take something for the pain. If it’s your tooth, your hand is up on your face. There are few things that will cause you to change your plans for the day than to have a bad tooth. Sometimes, taking an over-the-counter medication works – if you’re lucky!
But there is one major thing that is differentiates both of them from Chronic Pain. THEY EVENTUALLY GO AWAY…
Chronic Pain doesn’t…Chronic Pain is with you day and night. Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. You go to sleep with it (if you can sleep)…you wake up with it. It doesn’t matter what you do, it is there gnawing at you. Twenty-four-seven.
It takes your focus away from what you’re doing. It causes you to anticipate it…expect it…wonder where it is if it’s taking a break. IT HAUNTS YOU! You need to understand this. It fluctuates. Sometimes it’s not so bad, in fact the intensity is dialed back to the point you start doing things you may not otherwise do because of the typical pain. But then we tend to overdue it and when the pain comes back…BAM…it knocks you down hard.
When something gets inside your head it has you…
The hardest thing to do is refocus your mind. You have to find a way to look past the pain. Determine that you are not going to allow it to beat you. Do things…train yourself to do things that require your full attention. It’s not easy, but it can be done. If the Chronic Pain is messing with your mind you have a choice…
Now go to your Happy Place (as long as it’s legal)!