How to keep pain out of our mind

Chronic pain can have a great impact on our lives, especially if its intensity is high and if it is frequent or constant. The physical damage it can cause is also linked to the psychological and emotional damage that arises when we see how our activities can be reduced and how our daily life is affected.

The stress caused by chronic pain can alter our emotions, increasing the sensation of pain itself, and aggravating an already negative situation. In view of this, there are some recommendations endorsed by the American Psychological Association, which place special emphasis on keeping our mind as far away from pain as possible.

This, which is certainly much easier said than done, implies that pain treatment should include psychology professionals so that they can help the patient to improve in this aspect, and thus improve his or her quality of life.

Distracting pain

The IASP (International Association for the Study of Pain) updated its definition of pain in 2020. The revised version keeps psychological factors in the equation, as well as biological and social factors. Pain is “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with or similar to that associated with actual or potential tissue damage.” Therefore, each person may experience pain in a particular way and may see his or her life affected differently from another.

Apart from the different treatments that we can follow, always under the supervision of a pain professional of course, there is a strong psychological component that we should not neglect.

In view of the physical limitations that chronic pain can cause, and the stress and emotional impact that this can cause, we must ensure that it does not become the center of our lives. This can be achieved through psychological intervention, as we have previously discussed in Living without Pain in an article published by Dr. Carolina Franceschi.

Diverting attention to activities or thoughts that take our attention away from the pain is one of the most commonly used pain management strategies. Each person can find some activity or way to keep his or her mind occupied so that pain is not also present in our thoughts.

These are some of the things we can do to keep our minds busy:

• Listening to music
• Read
• Write
• Doing sports (always under medical supervision to avoid aggravating the pain).
• Drawing
• Playing something (video games, board games, cards…)

Often, the sensation of pain makes us lose the desire to do things we like to do. The important thing is to do something that takes our mind off the pain, that makes us enjoy, and that entertains us. The main objective, of course, is to improve the quality of life of the person in pain and to recover what makes us happy.

At MIVI we are aware of the complexity involved in the treatment of pain, and that is why we focus on all the aspects that can influence it, including the psychological. We do this thanks to a multidisciplinary team composed of professionals specialized in various areas related to pain. If you need more information you can contact us, or make an appointment.