Know Your Pain

One necessary part of chronic pain recovery and pain reprocessing therapy (PRT) is education in neuroplastic pain.  As an aid to recovery, this blog ‘Know Your Pain’ aims to share insights and knowledge to help clients overcome obstacles and to find encouragement along the way. Here we will also explore the intersection of chronic pain with other types of mind-body conditions like anxiety and trauma.

Aaron Jensen Aaron Jensen

Feeling Responsible

People who experience neuroplastic pain conditions often rate high on trait conscientiousness.  I too share in this personality trait, and while practicing PRT in recent weeks to maintain my own pain recovery I have noticed a physiological pattern that occurs for me: I get anxiety when faced with a decision between spending time at my own self care and spending time with others.  My default mode is to ‘think of others first,’ and when faced with the decision between prioritizing ‘me’ or ‘others’ my brain produces a felt sense of ‘conflict’ in my body.  I get anxious.  My chest and stomach tighten.  Automatic thoughts emerge about ‘letting others down.’  A pre-emptive sense of disappointment can even emerge in the form of a double bind: the conflict of feeling disappointed for not doing ‘my thing’ compared with not doing something for or with others.

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