Pain

Try to remain sane, even if you are in pain. If you are not in pain, just be glad you got to live again. We all experience pain at some point in our lives, whether it be physical pain or emotional pain. How you cope with pain enables you to manage the stress and anxiety that pain brings. Some of us manage pain by developing both healthy and not so healthy coping mechanisms. Physical and emotional pain are equally painful, and it can affect you on multiple levels of your life. Do not let anyone else tell you otherwise. Pain can ruin your day, or even you’re weak and you sometimes feel helpless. I tried not to let pain control me, even though it feels like it controls all the aspects of my life. Trying to understand one’s suffering can feel somewhat debilitating at times. Your individual experiences with pain can vary from person to person. You can take the right steps to find your ability to control your experiences, and on your terms, find the best ways to help alleviate your pain.

“Pain from problems and disappointments, etc., is inevitable in life, but suffering is a choice determined by whether you choose to compare your experience and pain to something better and therefore feel unlucky and bitter or to something worse and therefore feel lucky and grateful!” – Victor Frankl

Regardless of how pain changes your life, the right treatment approach can make an enormous difference in how you are able to live.  Medical and mental health treatments can improve your well-being and ease your overall pain. Stigma associated with pain, whether it is emotional or physical pain can prevent us from getting the help we need. Do not let misunderstandings or the lack of knowledge limit your ability to seek treatment when you need it the most. We often hear of people using illicit drugs to numb themselves, not realizing they're causing much more harm to themselves, rather than finding less harmful ways to reduce their pain. Unhealthy alternatives to remedy unresolved emotional and physical pain create many more problems than trying to actually help yourself get better. Taking the right steps to help yourself makes a significant difference in the long term. Seeking help when you need it the most is vital to achieving therapeutic stability when coping with pain.