Why am I in pain???
Welcome! I’m glad you’re here fellow pain sufferer.
You are in pain because your body is communicating with you. The first thing to realize is: the pain is NOT dangerous! The pain is just a neutral sensation in your body like a swift breeze blowing through your hair on a hot day.
The mind and the body are intrinsically linked. Your body is telling you something about the way you’re feeling EMOTIONALLY. The pain serves as a distraction from feelings you don’t want to think about.
Some feelings that cause physical pain:
1. Feeling out of control-ex. worrying about things that you have no power to effect. A lot of times people want to control other people but the truth is: all we can control is our own behavior.
2. Feeling like you’re being controlled-ex. feeling as the someone makes decisions for you and you cannot say no. You don’t have a way to disagree.
3. Anger-ex. anger gets a bad rap in our society. Aggression is totally normal. You are allowed to be angry at whatever you want to be it does NOT have to be justified. If you need to scream, scream! It’s ok.
4. Feeling burdened-ex. Do you take care of everyone around you? Do you feel you need to please others? This can make you feel angry and resentful. Care taking can be wonderful but as cliche as it is, in order to take care of others, you need to feel taken care of yourself.
5. Fear of emotional closeness (intimacy)-ex. for those of us who have had attachment trauma, closeness can be scary. Connection might feel dangerous to you. You don’t have to do anything about it, just be aware that this might be true for you.
6. Doubt (like doubt that the pain is psychological)-ex. doubt is a very tough one. It comes out in many forms. You might be distrustful of yourself and your ability to overcome the pain. You might be a little afraid that you have structural problems that will keep you in pain forever. You can find relief—TRUST ME :)
So what now? Try to think if any of these feelings resonate with how you might be feeling. Let them into your conscious awareness.
Next: Resume all physical activity! Yes, I said that. STOP BELIEVING THAT THERE’S SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU. I promise, you’re actually ok!
Start journaling about when you experience symptoms as well as when you don’t. What were you thinking about at the time, what was going on at the time. See if you can establish a pattern of triggers. I’m happy to help you identify some if you feel alone in this process.
Then make a commitment to yourself that you can heal.
I am here for you. I want to help you become pain free forever!