Dry Bones

There is a book that recently got the dust blown off it called A More Excellent Way.  It's premise being that root causes of illnesses, and the first place to approach healing, is emotional.  That is very oversimplified, but I don't want to sound "preachy" with all the spiritualized jargon that only means something if you are, well, spiritual.  I mention this because I very quickly glanced at a secular article on pain, that, for all intents and purposes, said the same thing!  The article was on arthritis pain.  It sounds like there are principles at work in our body, that are recognized, whether you are spiritual or not.  Coincidence?  I guess if you believe in that sort of thing.  In any case, I wanted to convey the information in case it resonated with anyone.  The section that is underlined is almost word for word, what you would read in A More Excellent Way.

Chronic pain is both physical and psychological, so certain ways of thinking can make it worse, says Ingela Symreng, PsyD., director of psychology for the department of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of California at Davis.  "Fear, anxiety and depression around pain may cause more suffering than the actual physical pain condition", she says.  Chronic pain is a broken alarm system, she explain, designed to trigger a "fight or flight" response.  That works great if you touch something that is hot - it hurts, so you pull your hand away.  With chronic pain, however, you can't get rid of the discomfort, so your left with an intense, unrelenting focus on it and a surfeit of adrenalin, which causes anxiety.  "You have to retrain your brain to react differently to those signals," says Dr. Symreng.  This is the crux of cognitive behavioral therapy, which can be highly effective in reducing pain, but you can learn these techniques on your own.  Here are five common responses to pain that make it worse - and what you can do to change them.

1. Stop expecting the worse

2. Move beyond the fear

3. Lower your stress quotient

4. Challenge negative thoughts

5. Recognize depression

I thought it was also interesting that A More Excellent Way suggests that even the suggestion of a negative object being nearby will elicit a response, even if the stimulus is not present.  For example, if you are allergic to strawberries, to even mention that strawberries are being served in the next room as a snack can (and they really aren't), in some people, may cause symptoms of an allergic reaction to start.  I am not talking actual broken bones being caused by emotional pain, but if you broke a bone 10 years ago and are still using crutches, you may want to look at that.

You can click on the source link for more detail on the solutions given by this article.  I am not personally a big cognitive therapy person, but I DO believe in the power of the mind, our thoughts, to bring life or cause death.  Before you call a doctor, consider taking a quick inventory or seek a counsellor to identify if fear, anxiety or depression, not just around the symptoms, but in general, is related to an unresolved hurt as well.  It may be time to, as Eminem would say, start "Cleanin' Out My Closet".

source: ivillage.com