I’ve been looking at some of the new research on stress and find it very interesting; especially in connection to my living with chronic pain.  I’ve known for a long time that there are both biological and psychological features that accompany increased stress.  One term I keep running into is The High-jacked Brain.   When I teach stress management I always start by discussing the Stress Thermometer (a concept I learned from Terry Gorski).  This thermometer has ten levels that are listed below.

1. Level one is deeply relaxed nearly asleep
2. Level two is relaxed and not focused
3. Level three is relaxed and focused
4. Level four is focused and active
5. Level five is free flow with no effort
6. Level six is free flow with extra effort
7. Level seven starts the stress reaction zone; spacing out
8. Level eight is getting defensive and agitated
9. Level nine is over-reacting
10. Level ten is can’t function, shut down or run away

From levels seven to ten we will experience disruptive symptoms.  It depends on how we interpret this distress whether we face the situation with confidence or helplessness.  At this point, we could easily shift into survival mode—fight, flight or freeze.  Any of those three modes will amplify our pain levels.  The fight mode leads to anger and attacking others; the flight mode leads to fear and hiding; and the freeze mode leads to depression and immobilization.

In this survival mode our primitive brain is in charge.  Fortunately, we can learn to recognize this high-jacking and implement some simple stress management tools.  Sometimes it can be as simple as stopping to take some slow deep breaths while saying to ourselves “I am in control!” or “I am relaxing and focused.”  So the combination of breathing and positive self-talk will start to shift us out of survival mode and let us focus on moving out of a problem and into the solution.

If you want to learn more about stress and chronic pain you can find my article The Stress Pain Connection that you can download for free on our Ariticles page.  If you want to learn more about pain management please check out our website at www.addiction-free.com.  or go to our Publications page to learn about my Addiction-Free Pain Management® books.

Many people with chronic pain frequently become depressed due to living with under-treated or mistreated pain symptoms. This process starts when your thinking and emotions become problematic. This is when your thinking becomes irrational or dysfunctional and you start mismanaging your feelings; you often have urges to indulge in self-defeating, impulsive or compulsive behaviors to cope with your depression. This in turn affects your relationships with others.

There are several types of clinical depression that involve disturbances in mood, concentration, self-confidence, sleep, appetite, activity and behavior as well as disruptions in friendships, family, work and/or school. A clinical depression is different than the experiences of sadness, disappointment and grief familiar to everyone, which sometimes makes it difficult to determine when professional help is necessary. The following information is intended to provide you with a brief overview of the symptoms, causes, and treatment of clinical depression and offers you tools to assess the severity of any symptoms that you may be experiencing to determine whether you should consider seeking professional help for treating your depression at this time.

One of the biggest problems in treating depression in people with chronic pain is missing the diagnosis. This occurs for two reasons: (1) the person in chronic pain often does not realize he or she is also suffering from a major depression; and (2) the doctor is not looking for it. People living with chronic pain will often define their problem as strictly medical and related to the pain.  Therefore, being open to explore if depression is present and being willing to develop a treatment strategy becomes a crucial component of an effective pain management treatment plan.

If symptoms related to a depressive condition are interfering with your ability to do routine, day-to-day activities, then you should consider seeking professional help.  There are currently a variety of highly effective interventions available for the treatment of depression.  The majority of depressive conditions can be treated with either psychotherapy (especially cognitive behavioral therapy) or medication but research studies have indicated that a combination of these interventions is usually the most effective form of treatment.  There are also some types of depression that have a seasonal patterning where intensive Full Spectrum Lighting therapy is often effective in reducing symptoms.  It should be emphasized that the majority of depressive conditions can be treated without hospitalization.

Medication Plus Psychotherapy

Is Considered the Best Treatment

If you want to learn more about pain management please check out our website at www.addiction-free.com.  You can also find my article The Role of Clincial Depression in Pain Management that you can download for free on our Ariticles page or go to our Publications page to learn about my Addiction-Free Pain Management® books.

It is important to know about the connection between stress levels and your pain symptoms, as well as understanding that stress management can also decrease your suffering.  Physically, chronic pain raises your stress levels and drains physical energy, while psychologically it affects your ability to think clearly, logically and rationally, as well as to effectively manage your feelings or emotions.  Remember that in most cases if you can learn to lower your stress levels, you will also experience a decrease in your perception of pain.
 
It is important to learn how to self-assess your levels of stress and then learn how to develop some simple but effective stress management tools.  I like to use the Gorski-CENAPS® Stress Thermometer concept.  This concept proposes that there are ten levels of stress and when you get to the moderate to higher levels of stress your thinking and behavior are impacted.

Take Charge of  Your Stress 

Take Charge of Your Pain

Another step in stress management is to learn how to identify and challenge irrational thinking that leads to uncomfortable emotions. For example if you’re under high stress the thought might be “I can’t stand this… I need to escape.” This in turn could lead to, fear, anger, anxiety, or even cravings to use self-defeating behaviors or even inappropriate pain medication for stress relief.

The next step is to be aware of and learn how to manage those uncomfortable feelings before they lead to self-defeating urges. Developing healthy feeling management skills is very important. Learning to share with trustworthy people is one way to deal with uncomfortable emotions. If the feelings are too intense or overwhelming, counseling or therapy may be necessary.

If you want to learn more about pain management please check out our website at www.addiction-free.com.  You can also find my article The Stess Pain Connection along with several other articles that you can download for free on our Ariticles page or go to our Publications page to learn about my Addiction-Free Pain Management® books.