Do not transfer a
mental stress to
an imaginary
pain in the backeven countries have cognitive behavioural therapists or active rehabilitation programs.
What will you do then?
Chronic low back pain management is hard work. It requires a lot of cooperation from
you and your family. Obviously if there was a pathological cause that could be treated,
then this problem would not have arisen. Rather than sinking into depression and
feeling that the whole world is against you, it is better that you rise to the challenge and
participate in the following activities designed to help mitigate your back pain:
- Think Positively: Once you begin to think positively, the rest of the activities
become easy. The moment you let circumstances overpower you, you have lost
the battle. The first thing that you must do on reading this
book is to take a deep breath and assure yourself that
you will take charge of your pain and YOU WILL GET
BETTER. - Stay away from whiners: Do not listen to chronic
whiners who always complain that nothing works. Stay
away from such people and do not even discuss with them
what you plan to do. Try to associate with people who have a positive optimistic
attitude towards life as they will reinforce your positive thoughts. - Do Not Somatize Your Pain: Basically, this means that you should not
transfer a mental stress to an imaginary pain in the back. You must dissociate
family, social, legal and job problems from your back pain. To repeat what I have
said earlier – just stand back for a moment and contemplate honestly. Is there
some other home or work related problem that is taking a toll on your health? Is
your back pain really that bad or has it become bad because you have not
bothered to exercise or take any preventive steps? If you are obese, have you
seriously tried to lose weight?
I am not going to get rid of your financial, social or legal problems but at least I
can stop you from loading your back with them. If you feel physically fitter, your
mind will also think with greater clarity and you may come up with a solution or
solutions for your other problems.