A Swedish study of whiplash injury patients demonstrates the power of positive thinking. The patients who said they expected to get better were the ones most likely to make a full recovery within six months of their injury, according to the findings published in the online journal PLoS Medicine.

Another good reason why positive thinking is important is the phenomenon of anticipatory pain. The anticipation of an expected pain level can influence the degree to which you experience pain. When your self-talk is saying, “this is horrible, awful, terrible,” the brain tends to amplify the pain signal. When this occurs, your level of distress increases—you suffer, remaining a victim to your pain.

The anticipation of an expected pain level can also influence the degree to which pain is experienced in a positive manner. In some cases, when the anticipatory level of pain expectation is lowered, the brain responds by influencing special neurons. This renders the brain less responsive to an incoming pain signal. Herein lies the rationale for biofeedback and meditation as pain control methods. In any event, both ascending (pain signals coming from the point of injury to the brain) and descending nerve pathways (signals from the brain to the point of injury) will influence or modify the effects on the body.  To learn more about this concept you can go to our website www.addiction-free.com and download my free article Coping with Anticipatory Pain.

If you want to learn more about chronic pain management please check out our website at www.addiction-free.com and go to our Ariticles page to download other free information as well as checking out our Publications page to review my new book Managing Pain and Coexisting Disorders.