I recently got involved in a debate among several chronic pain sufferers who are struggling with the mindbody approach. Having tried for a few months, with only a minor success, one of them posed the question: am I not working hard enough in my mindbody practice to be able to heal? Should I see more specialists in mindbody medicine? Should I focus more on how to fix my symptoms?
It is a known fact that psychosomatic symptoms are often generated by anxious and obsessive brains, therefore the biggest problem for those with anxious or obsessive tendencies is not about doing more or working harder. The biggest problem of the anxious brain is not being able to divert attention away from the symptoms.
It seems counterintuitive that if you are in chronic pain, you should be putting less effort in stopping it, and not more, but it is often exactly the right thing to do. Chronic pain patients usually feel better when they do things they enjoy, away from pain: spending time with friends, watching a comedy, taking a walk in nature. The more time you spend away from your thoughts about pain, the less likely your brain will be reinforcing the pain circuit that it is being so stubbornly stuck in.
One may ask, but how do I know that I have done enough and should start taking my attention away from pain? Regardless of which route you are taking in your healing the best indication is that you notice any, even small improvements.
It could be that your wake up in the morning and the pain is gone for a few minutes, or that you no longer feel pain when performing a certain task, or that pain level is not as high as it used to be. This is when you need to take the initiative away from your anxious brain and start reminding it about your progress when the pain returns.
When you are consciously and persistently telling yourself that you are doing better, your brain will eventually unlearn your pain. Think about it: after you move from one house to another, you need to remind yourself to unlearn the old route from work to your home. After you discover those pain-free moments, you need to remind yourself to unlearn the route away from pain! You just need to be patient with your restless brain and pain will eventually subside.
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