You were already occupied with managing anxiety and mood symptoms. Chronic pain took hold and your mental and emotional health suffered a major blow. What can we do?
The study found that interference with pain is more problematic for chronic pain sufferers than intensity of pain.
Last summer, I started to feel occasional pains in my hip. No problem, I would just keep rolling and shake it off.
It got worse over time so I went to see an ortho 6 weeks ago. After 30 days and an MRI, I found out that my femur was fractured, I had osteoarthritis and a torn tendon.
Chronic pain has taken hold. This is a huge blow to my mental and emotional health, which was already “interesting”.
Share is important
I am learning as much as I can about my body and my mind. Sharing is important because 20 percent of the global population, or five billion people, are suffering from chronic pain.
Did you know that people who suffer from chronic pain are three times more likely to experience depression and anxiety than those without pain?
There is a lot to do, so we will divide it into two parts. Let’s start with part one: a discussion about a new study.
“Protecting the mental wellbeing of people with chronic pain”.
Soon after I began my research, I came across a useful article. The Edith Cowan University’s website published an article entitled “Being flexible helps protect mental wellbeing for people with chronic pain”.
This piece summarises a recent study by Professor Joanne Dickson and ECU Tara Swindells.
Details
Swindells & Dickson conducted a survey of 300 people with chronic pain that was not cancer-related. Participants answered questions regarding their mental health, their level of pain and the extent to which it interfered with daily activities and routines – .
Dickson noted that, as a result pain, people may not be able to engage in activities which help them achieve their goals.