There is a direct correlation between mental health and chronic pain. If you work to be healthy emotionally, you'll see improvement in your pain tolerance.
Talking Points:
- Chronic pain is all in the head but not because a person is being over dramatic. It’s in the biology of the brain specifically in the nervous system.
- Mental health is a huge part of managing chronic pain. Sleep is important in the process but also dealing with the things in life that cause stress.
- Fear, stress and worry are the enemy. If a person is overwhelmed emotionally, that will trigger the nervous system to flare up and that will cause pain to increase. The key is learning to manage emotions which will then help to manage the pain.
Discussion:
- Initial reactions to this topic? What jumped out at you?
- What’s your experience with chronic pain? On a scale from 1-10, how bad is it right now?
- If you have a loved one who struggles with chronic pain, how have you viewed their condition up to now? How does understanding the mental health connection help you to empathize with them?
- What are your biggest stresses right now that are likely feeding your pain? What have you done to deal with those emotions?
- What are some of your future goals? What are some productive things you can do moving forward to better understand your stress and help you to accomplish your goals?
- Is there a step you need to take based on today’s topic?
