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Living with Chronic Pain / Illness

Did you know that many medical doctors actually treat chronic pain by prescribing antidepressants? The brain’s link between pain and mood is so profound that one can directly affect the other. On top of that, chronic pain can actually decrease our overall pain threshold, so that we experience even more pain even more often. Living with chronic pain is basically the definition of how “life isn’t fair.”


Chronic illnesses are usually invisible. We have to explain over and over why we aren’t able to do things we used to do and love. We constantly have to back out of plans, call out of work and lose income, or miss meaningful events simply because we just cannot handle one more activity. We worry that people will overlook our illness as the root cause of this behavior, and label us as lazy, whiny, or unreliable. On the flip side, we don’t want to be known for being the sick or disabled person in the group who needs extra accommodation, which can be demeaning and marginalizing. 


With all this stress piled on top of the extreme stress of managing chronic illness and pain, it’s no wonder that many people with these stressors are also struggling with mental health challenges. It’s very typical for chronic illness to cause or exacerbate psychological symptoms.

Therapists specializing in living with chronic pain and illness

LAUREN SANDERS

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