CONTROL Pain… With Your Mind?

The devastating opioid crisis—which killed more than 50,000 in 2019 alone—makes it clear that we need a better solution for the millions of Americans living with pain.

Ideally, a solution that won’t make them choose between pain, addiction, and an untimely death.

Non-opioid is a good start… non-drug would be even better.

That’s why I was intrigued by a novel new therapy that helps combat pain by reprogramming your mind.

It has to do with something called catastrophizing pain. This is the idea that when you’re hyper-focused on the pain, it makes it more intense.

And in fact, higher “pain catastrophizing scores” are linked to worse health outcomes.

In one study, people who had been in a car accident and had the highest pain catastrophizing scores experienced more pain and disability than similarly injured patients with a lower score.

That’s because these types of thoughts impact your pain processing pathway and can cause genuine, physical pain.

After all, pain is primarily processed in the brain.

That’s why cognitive behavioral therapy—a type of treatment typically used for things like depression and eating disorders—could be beneficial for those suffering from pain as well.

With this form of therapy, you can change negative thoughts and behaviors, develop better coping skills for pain, and impact your own life experiences for the better.

Another form of therapy – called pain reprocessing therapy — can actually change the physical response to pain in your brain.

For example, when you have an injury, your brain provides warning signals to restrict movement so that healing can occur.

If that signal continues even after the injury is healed, you can be left with chronic pain.

Pain reprocessing therapy can help your brain “unlearn” certain kinds of pain.

Does this mean that your pain is all in your mind? Or that beating back pain is as simple as mind over matter?

Absolutely not.

What this means that is your mind is a powerful tool in your overall health—and you can use it to your advantage.

P.S. Researchers have identified an eight-week program that can reduce opioid misuse AND slash chronic pain. Click here to read about it.

 

SOURCE:

Jordan, R. (2022, April 3.) Study Shows That Thinking About Pain Makes it More Painful. Nature World News. https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/50209/20220403/study-shows-that-pain-is-not-just-in-the-head.htm