Living with chronic pain can be incredibly lonely and isolating, particularly for those who are single. The toll pain takes, can lead to an ever-reducing circle of friends and family. The cause of these changes can come from: others and their misunderstanding or from the pain-affected person.
Regardless of its source, chronic pain can disrupt nearly all aspects of someone's life – beyond physical pain, it can impede their ability to work and participate in social and other activities like they used to, impact their relationships and cause feelings of isolation, frustration and anxiety.
You don't look sick
While you may think that this could be taken as a compliment, saying we don't look sick implies that we might be faking it, or that our illness is not severe. Chronic illness can take over every part of your life and is extremely debilitating.
"It has been shown that relationships in which one partner has chronic pain tend to be more strained, have more marital distress, more conflict, and a greater likelihood for divorce," Geisser said.
Experiencing depression, mood fluctuations, anxiety, altered perceptions and cognition, and emotional instability, are all commonly associated with chronic pain. This is a result of the perceived stress that impacts the body on a physical and chemical level.
The Spiraling Effects of Chronic Pain
Family members may experience changes in their thoughts and feelings, leading to depression or anxiety. They may engage in ongoing unexpressed family conflict and/or bring up childhood family issues.
You may be advised to contact your doctor the next day to try and access better chronic pain treatments. If another cause is identified, then treatment will proceed from there. You might be offered over the counter treatments and painkillers for your chronic pain.
Chronic pain is emotionally stressful
However, chronic pain causes chronic stress, which means your body is overloaded with stress hormones that change the neurochemicals in your brain that affect your mood, thinking, and behavior. This may be why you feel more irritable or angry.
If your pain has truly shifted and feels like it has intensified or changed in some way, take positive action and give your doctor a call. If you have multiple health conditions that lead to chronic pain, a change in type, location, or intensity of pain may mean that there is something else going on.
People in chronic pain often report feeling trapped by their body or unable to reach out for help. These inward-turning feelings can increase social isolation and loneliness.
They may lose social connectedness with others, as illness requires more of a home-bound life. They may lose sexual connection, as illness saps desire. They may lose mental and physical well-being, as worry about their spouse's illness drains their equanimity. Partners are hurting, and they often hurt in silence.
The concept of living well while living with chronic pain can sound impossible, but you can thrive despite chronic pain. Living well with your chronic pain isn't just about managing your pain, but rather about finding ways to live a happy, fulfilled life in spite of your symptoms.
Chronic pain can interfere with your daily activities, such as working, having a social life and taking care of yourself or others. It can lead to depression, anxiety and trouble sleeping, which can make your pain worse. This response creates a cycle that's difficult to break.
A stubborn and complex condition to treat, when chronic pain persists, it can lead to fatigue and depression. FATIGUE: Chronic pain makes it hard to get restorative sleep and the lack of sleep can have sufferers wake up in increased pain.
Individuals who experience chronic pain may find themselves feeling depressed or anxious. They will also be at risk for substance abuse and other mental health disorders. Other common emotional responses to pain can include sadness, frustration, anger or feeling misunderstood and demoralized.
Living with daily pain is physically and emotionally stressful. Chronic stress is known to change the levels of stress hormones and neurochemicals found within your brain and nervous system; these can affect your mood, thinking and behavior.
Chronic pain causes a number of problems that can lead to depression, such as trouble sleeping and stress. Disabling pain can cause low self-esteem due to work or financial issues or the inability to participate in social activities and hobbies. Depression doesn't just occur with pain resulting from an injury.
Trigeminal neuralgia or tic douloureux is a chronic pain condition that affects the trigeminal or fifth cranial nerve. It is one of the most painful conditions known.
The percentage of adults who had chronic pain in the past 3 months increased with age and was higher among those aged 45–64 (25.8%) and 65 and over (30.8%) compared with those aged 18–29 (8.5%) and 30–44 (14.6%) (Figure 2).
Aging has also been linked to an increase in the pain threshold, a decline of painful sensations, and a decrease in pain tolerance. Still, elderly patients with chronic pain show an increased risk for dementia and cognitive impairment.
The Link Between Trauma, Abuse, and Chronic Pain
When chronically activated, that stress response can become dysregulated and lead to many negative physical and psychological outcomes later on. Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is also linked to pain conditions and higher levels of reported disability from pain.
Chronic pain physically takes people away from their social networks. Pain flares can be a disincentive to planning and engaging, and can inhibit participation in activities. Fear of judgment can also lead to social withdrawal.
Chronic pain is often comorbid with depression, anxiety, catastrophizing, and various ineffective coping strategies. Some patients, however, have demonstrated more adaptive and effective strategies for cognitively and behaviorally coping with pain and normalizing their lives.