In searching for material for this blog, I came across an interesting article written by Ted Jones, Ph. D., a psychologist. He begins by saying that good pain management is like a 3 legged stool. The legs of the stool represent the 3 elements of treatment: interventions, medications, and psychological education/counseling. All these elements must be in place in order for the stool to remain upright and stable...right?
The article goes on to point out more detailed information about each leg of the stool. As the author is a psychologist, he goes on to say that many people are treated only with interventions and medications...but the psychological leg of the stool is left out, leaving treatment sorely lacking.
Why is the psychological aspect of treatment so important? Because this part of a pain management treatment can help a patient to learn very important coping skills that enhance the overall effectiveness of treatment. According to Dr. Jones, there are five skills that a patient should learn to fully benefit.
In a nutshell, these are the "Big 5":
1) Understanding--in which the patient learns about their diagnosis, chronic pain mechanisms, associated anxiety and depression, etc.
2) Acceptance--learning to accept the situation as is and detach oneself emotionally from it.
3) Calming--learning relaxing techniques to release the stress.
4) Balancing--learning to create a balanced and sustainable lifestyle.
5) Coping--tips and techniques for dealing with pain that becomes more severe.
The pain is real. It's not a fabrication that needs to be driven out of one's mind...and a psychologist may be just the thing to help keep that three legged stool from falling down!
You can read Dr. Jones' very interesting article by clicking here.
Sources: Practical Pain Management; agsense.net
The article goes on to point out more detailed information about each leg of the stool. As the author is a psychologist, he goes on to say that many people are treated only with interventions and medications...but the psychological leg of the stool is left out, leaving treatment sorely lacking.
Why is the psychological aspect of treatment so important? Because this part of a pain management treatment can help a patient to learn very important coping skills that enhance the overall effectiveness of treatment. According to Dr. Jones, there are five skills that a patient should learn to fully benefit.In a nutshell, these are the "Big 5":
1) Understanding--in which the patient learns about their diagnosis, chronic pain mechanisms, associated anxiety and depression, etc.
2) Acceptance--learning to accept the situation as is and detach oneself emotionally from it.
3) Calming--learning relaxing techniques to release the stress.
4) Balancing--learning to create a balanced and sustainable lifestyle.
5) Coping--tips and techniques for dealing with pain that becomes more severe.
The pain is real. It's not a fabrication that needs to be driven out of one's mind...and a psychologist may be just the thing to help keep that three legged stool from falling down!
You can read Dr. Jones' very interesting article by clicking here.
Sources: Practical Pain Management; agsense.net
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