Being Well ... In Spite of Pain
English author, Charles Kingsley, writes: “Pain is no evil. Unless it conquers us.”
In physical or psychological pain, it often comes unbidden. Unwanted. Unexpected. And even unnecessary.
Medicines don’t seem to work in Lisa’s body anymore. She’s getting more and more depressed and angry. Resisting it. Warring against it. Cursing it.
I asked her, “If you continue resisting and cursing the pain (even God), will that make it go away?” She pondered in silence.
In my own experience of pain, whether in the aftermath of betrayal or in the cuts of a scissor on my skin, the more I tried to push it away and get angry, the more the pain sharpens and intensifies.
Also, with my defiance and bitter feelings against the pain, the longer the healing takes place. There must be an alternative way to deal with the pain.
Accumulated clinical research shows that pain has a strong psychological component. Anxiety and panic, for example, are known to stimulate and worsen pain.
According to psychologist/author Dr. Gary Collins, chronic sufferers can often learn to control and some times eliminate their pain by “changing their attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors.”
One time, in a therapy session with a trauma victim, I started working on this with her family in emotional and relational pain.
They had to start learning the “acceptance of the pain” as it is and grow to bloom together as a family from that point onwards.
Being God-fearing, the family was reminded of one truth in Nahum 1. That “suffering and joy go together” because God is in the midst of the whirlwind and storm.
Even in pain, you can smile. You can be well ... in spite of the pain.
—-
Check out Dr. Subida’s book, “SECRETS OF YOUR SELF.”
In physical or psychological pain, it often comes unbidden. Unwanted. Unexpected. And even unnecessary.
Medicines don’t seem to work in Lisa’s body anymore. She’s getting more and more depressed and angry. Resisting it. Warring against it. Cursing it.
I asked her, “If you continue resisting and cursing the pain (even God), will that make it go away?” She pondered in silence.
In my own experience of pain, whether in the aftermath of betrayal or in the cuts of a scissor on my skin, the more I tried to push it away and get angry, the more the pain sharpens and intensifies.
Also, with my defiance and bitter feelings against the pain, the longer the healing takes place. There must be an alternative way to deal with the pain.
Accumulated clinical research shows that pain has a strong psychological component. Anxiety and panic, for example, are known to stimulate and worsen pain.
According to psychologist/author Dr. Gary Collins, chronic sufferers can often learn to control and some times eliminate their pain by “changing their attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors.”
One time, in a therapy session with a trauma victim, I started working on this with her family in emotional and relational pain.
They had to start learning the “acceptance of the pain” as it is and grow to bloom together as a family from that point onwards.
Being God-fearing, the family was reminded of one truth in Nahum 1. That “suffering and joy go together” because God is in the midst of the whirlwind and storm.
Even in pain, you can smile. You can be well ... in spite of the pain.
—-
Check out Dr. Subida’s book, “SECRETS OF YOUR SELF.”