The Grief in Dealing with Chronic Pain

Are you feeling like you are going crazy dealing with chronic pain or illness? You are not mad; you are probably dealing with grief.

Dealing with Chronic pain can change you into someone you don’t recognize. Sure, you can get cranky, snarky, pessimistic, and short of temper. These reactions are expected and understandable when dealing with something that’s continuously physically uncomfortable, but there can be a darker side to this condition. There is no societal knowledge or acceptance when dealing with the grief of chronic pain. Researchers have found that chronic pain can lead to unrealized grief with the added disorder of anxiety.
When it’s written out, this all makes sense. It makes sense that grief can appear here. In addition to dealing with physical distress, we suffer the loses of many things.
These can include:
The loss of self-sufficiency
The loss of wellness and physical peace
The loss of abilities
The loss of sleep for some
The loss of friendships due to lack of understanding
The loss of future without pain
The loss of everyday wellness

The anxiety, though? Where does that come from?
The anxiety can stem from worrying about your safety, ability to be independent, and financial resources to manage medical needs. These feelings can also come from the loss of normalcy that pain seems to have stolen. If chronic pain is perceived to come on suddenly, then it’s reasonable for our brains to assume that anything terrible could come into our lives at any point. Pain also puts our brain into flight, flight, or freeze mode. It makes perfect sense that one could grow extra anxiety from being in that state for more extended periods.

It all makes sense. Thankfully, while working alongside your medical professionals in dealing with your chronic pain, you can also contact a therapist or mental health professional to help you with the anxiety.