By May 2, 2013 Read More →

Studies In Pain

pain
Having experienced pain first hand in my life due to trauma both emotional and physical, I have an observation. It is paradoxical to me that to heal physically and emotionally are two different things.
To heal physically you have to manage reduce and attempt to eliminate the pain. The more pain your body has to deal with the less actual physical healing you do. The more you are able to isolate, immobilize, stabilize the physical injury the more you tend to manage the physical pain. The more you manage the physical pain the more physical healing can occur. In the context of physical healing prescribed methodologies for managing pain are very cool. Unfortunately there is a risk for some prescriptions to lead to addiction. Addiction causing problems all its own. According to the doctors I’ve worked with it’s the cure that can become a problem. Getting patients off of a prescribed solution is the problem.

Emotional pain is a different animal entirely. If we try to manage our emotional pain like we manage our physical pain we are on a fast track for an addition. There is no way to numb emotional pain. There are strategies where you as a person can become unfeeling, unemotional, unconnected, isolated, then dead. Avoiding emotional pain is impossible. There are prescribed ways of slowing down the pain, reducing the pain, but not good solutions for eliminating it. Emotional pain must be felt. It’s the path that must be walked ideally not alone. Its the journey through hell that is necessary to get to heaven.Managing emotional pain like physical pain is a recipe for disaster. Addiction, life destroying patterns behaviours and actions, compounding the original problem.Disability is a study in pain. The emotional pain the things disabled people must deal with; the stigmatization, the discrimination, the isolation. The changes and impact in life trajectories. Emotional pain is a constant companion. It is comforting to know that each of us will deal with each of these issues in time. Don’t idealize or idolize use too much the things you think we have to manage that you think you can’t are headed your way. It’s an inevitability.
The physical pain of disability is something that is continually being managed to heal and extend energy for quality of life. There are many things I do to avoid and manage physical pain; technology, behaviours, clothing, life style , etc. The choices I make to make sure I have enough energy to work live and love with good balance.
Its about being real my disability is a moving target. The pain I feel emotionally and physically is also in constant flux. I have learned that through good tools I can get through my emotional pain and by disciplined practice manage my physical pain so I can live. Without addiction being addicted to distraction, adrenaline, pain killers, food, alcohol, drugs, sex , etc., living clean. It’s a great place to be.

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