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Protecting your body and mind from hidden stress
In my work supporting individuals to resolve chronic pain, combat anxiety and other stress illness conditions, one issue repeatedly emerges: unresolved emotional stress. It plays a significant role in sustaining these conditions.
Seth is a building contractor based in Co. Wexford. When he first came to see me last November, he told me he’d been living with persistent and debilitating back pain for several years. It had been thoroughly medically investigated but nothing was found to be wrong. It was a colleague who suggested Seth get in touch with me.
When Charlie started working with me some time ago, he told me he’d seen therapists in the past who had helped him contain some of his symptoms. Unfortunately, though, his chronic stomach issues had persisted and even increased over time. After we began work together he made huge progress in resolving this problem and, importantly, came to understand the cause of his neuroplastic symptoms.
Many of you reading this lived with chronic pain for several years, seeing countless health practitioners and specialists in order to try and discover what was wrong. Sometimes you’d get small insights from these health professionals that helped, and at other times you’d find yourself in more pain.
Across Ireland, thousands of people are living with chronic pain that persists despite scans, medication or treatment. I know this both from my own research and practice and from that of my colleagues at Chronic Pain Ireland.
Living with long term-pain, especially after years of medical appointments, tests and the endless searching for answers, it’s natural to develop habits of thinking and reacting that feel as if they’re ‘fixed’. Even when you begin learning about neuroplastic symptoms or discover Dr. John Sarno’s work on Tension Myoneural Syndrome (TMS) and finally see a way forward, something inside can still feel stuck. The term for that gridlocked feeling is mental rigidity.
A little while ago I invited a few of the people I teach if they might like to complete a survey. As some of you will know I’m asked to write articles about the Resolving Chronic Pain (RCP) process for interested organisations or journals. I have often wondered what the people involved in the process might like to read about. I was also interested in your experience of the RCP process.
One of the most surprising things about being human is that so much of what we think of another person may actually have little to do with them and a lot to do with us. I’ve come to understand this through my training and the many people I have worked with in the Resolving Chronic Pain (RCP) process.
Sally came to me originally with severe back pain. We worked together and, over time, it disappeared.
Sally told me that her family were reasonably supportive when she was making important decisions about her work, and her partner seemed strong and reliable. But as time went on she began to realise that everything wasn’t as OK as she’d wanted to believe, and she started to take a closer look at some of those relationships.