Physical pain is never pleasant. And when it lasts for long periods of time, it's even worse. I have been dealing with a chronic pain condition for the last four years. Chronic pain, defined as pain that is long-term and pain that has outlived its usefulness, is a significant source of disability for countless people around the world. No matter what the cause of a person's chronic pain condition, dealing with ongoing and unremitting physical pain can be highly disruptive to all areas of a person's life. And it can have a profound impact on a person's psychological health as well.
Pain in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing. When an area of our body hurts, whether as a result of an accident, illness, or some other occurrence, pain is a healthy signal conveying that something is wrong in the body. Pain is a wake-up call to take action. If we fall and injure ourselves, the resulting pain is an indicator that something has been hurt or damaged on our body. And, if severe enough, the pain spurs us to seek medical attention, attention that hopefully results in the injury being treated and fixed. After the injury is treated and it heals, the pain should go away. That's how it works in a perfect world. But with a chronic pain condition, things don't fall into place so nicely.
Whether or not your chronic pain is caused by the effects of an old injury or disease, or whether it's the result of an ongoing, chronic condition that is running its natural course, pain is an everyday part of your life. It doesn't go away. It may ebb and flow in its severity, and you may even have days where you are virtually pain-free, but the results don't last. And that's a situation that describes my predicament. Pain has become a natural part of my everyday existence due to the effects of a childhood hip condition that was surgically treated at age thirteen. I'm now thirty-three, and as the result of a degenerative process within my affected hip, I'm part of the millions of people suffering from a chronic pain condition. It's almost a given that I'm going to experience pain to some degree everyday. And it's not an easy thing to put up with. Pain that shadows your everyday existence tends to suck the life force out of you - it clouds each day and takes much of the shine and luster off of life!
Normal everyday stressors and frustrations - traffic, bills, family issues, car repairs, long lines, e.t.c - become magnified for a person suffering from a chronic pain condition. It makes you irritable; it makes you tense; and it makes it very difficult to focus on the good in life when you are being infected on a daily basis with something that is bad - chronic pain! Your energy levels plummet, and you begin to feel hopeless and trapped. Life is happening all around you, but the chronic pain condition eats up too much of your energy, attention, and focus for you to really get the most out of life. Chronic pain eats away at your quality of life. And this in turn eats away at your psychological health.
If your pain is bad enough to restrict your normal activities, you start to feel trapped. You find yourself avoiding all of the activities that you love simply because they are too difficult to perform while being in pain. As your ability to perform various activities wanes, you become more frustrated and angry, which in turn makes you depressed. It's a vicious cycle. Not only do you suffer physically, but you start to suffer mentally. As your quality of life wanes, and as you find yourself becoming more and more restricted in terms of the things you can do, you become mired in a fog of depression, frustration, and hopelessness.
And that basically describes my life for the past four years or so. Before I was afflicted with a chronic pain condition, I never truly understood what it was like to suffer on a daily basis with a physical problem. But as a result of my own struggles and pain issues, I have a newfound respect and understanding for those who are battling chronic pain conditions.
