What is chronic pain?
The experience of chronic pain is unique to each individual, but generally it means pain that is constant or frequently recurring for at least a few months. Most of the people have been experiencing it for years or even decades. For some, the pain began with an acute injury. For many others, the pain arose seemingly out of nowhere. Either way, recent research shows that most long-term pain lasting over six months is not caused by tissue damage or abnormalities in the body. It is instead a learned, unconscious association formed by neural pathways in the brain.
All pain is real
To be very clear, whether it is acute or chronic, ALL pain is real and the person experiencing it is suffering. Pain is a natural signal that alerts our brains when some part of our body is hurt, needs protection, needs tending to, or needs to rest. We need pain to survive. Consider a child touching a hot stove. Her brain lights up and says “PAIN” to protect her from further harming her hand. If you break your leg, your brain will probably bombard you with “PAIN” signals to make you rest so you can heal. Sometimes pain protects us from running ourselves into the ground. For those of us who tend to ignore our bodies’ signals and “push through,” pain might show up to demand we stop and listen.
An overprotective mind
Innately, pain’s role is to keep us well and safe. It is protective. Some of us have overprotective minds that continue working overtime, even when the perceived danger has passed. These are the kinds of folks who experience chronic pain – thoughtful, hardworking, caring people who might tend to think of others before themselves. They are likely to be more conscientious, anxious, and self-critical, and all of these qualities keep their brains more vigilant to potential danger.
Pain-fear spiral
Another thing research tells us about pain is that it is enhanced by fear. Coincidentally, fear is also enhanced by pain. Thus, chronic pain sufferers find themselves stuck in what is known as the pain-fear spiral.
Everyone experiences pain sometimes. For those of us trapped in chronic pain, fear is what keeps us stuck. So, the fear is what we target in pain reprocessing therapy. We can’t control whether or not pain comes up in our lives, but we can control our response to it and therefore break the pain-fear cycle.
Here’s a simple equation:
Pain = Sensation + Fear
Take away the fear, and it’s just a sensation.
In summary
Chronic pain is:
- A learned, unconscious association formed by neural pathways in the brain
- Something that can, with time and patience, be unlearned
- Evidence of an overprotective brain in high alert
- An epidemic: estimated to affect 1.2 billion people worldwide
- Misunderstood by many well-meaning medical professionals
- Under-taught in medical schools
- Often an invalidating and incredibly isolating experience
- Very treatable
Book recommendations
The Way Out by Alan Gordon, LCSW, creator of pain reprocessing therapy
Unlearn Your Pain by Howard Schubiner, MD
The Mindful Self-Compassion Workbook by Neff and Germer
Podcasts
Like Mind, Like Body made through the Curable app
Tell Me About Your Pain with Alan Gordon and Alon Ziv