By Dr Claire Jensen, Clinical Psychologist, Psychology Consultants, Newmarket.
Unless you have suffered chronic pain, it is very difficult to imagine the stress it places on a person’s life, not to mention the impact on those around them. Without intervention, chronic pain can significantly reduce a person’s quality of life, lead to sleep problems, exhaustion, stress, relationship and work dysfunction, as well as mental health problems.
According to Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) one in five Australian adults suffer from both severe chronic pain and either depression or other mood disorders, costing the country $35 billion a year.
Despite this it is only in the last two decades or so that Chronic Pain has received the increased research and funding it requires. We now know much more about how we can support chronic pain sufferers to manage their pain levels, reduce the vicious downward cycle of pain and improve quality of life.
Like most modern medicine, taking a holistic approach is considered best practice and this extends to chronic pain management, where practitioners take a biopsychosocial approach assessing; the biological, psychological and social aspects of the person’s situation.
Clinical Psychologist, Dr Claire Jensen, who is extensively trained in chronic pain management stresses the importance of engaging a holistic team of professionals that you can trust to assist you to manage all aspects of your pain.
“Many clients avoid seeing a psychologist as they are worried others will think ‘Your pain is all in your head!’ but Cognitive strategies, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), mindfulness and relaxation can be just as important as pain medication or physiotherapy,” she said.
“Pain is a subjective experience and thus whatever pain the client describes is the true experience for them. Pain is certainly not ‘all in a person’s head’ but the brain and body are closely linked and thus it is a great asset to learn how to access the brains natural medicine cabinet, i.e., how to assist the brain to relax and release helpful chemicals such as serotonin and dopamine.”
Clinical Psychologists can help chronic pain sufferers work through the daily struggles that present, offering strategies that will help the individual manage their pain, improve their mood and sleep, as well as recognise how unhelpful thoughts feed into the pain cycle. This in turn leads to an increased quality of life and reduced risk of associated depression and anxiety.
Many chronic pain suffers feel trapped within debilitating negative thoughts that influence our mood, memory, function and ability to enjoy everyday life. CBT has been extensively researched for its positive effect on managing negative thoughts associated with pain, through adaptive coping skills, such as distraction and relaxation, that produce calming thought processes.
Another more recent technique embraced by health professionals across the world is mindfulness. Leading the way, Professor Jon Kabat-Zinn brought mindfulness to the forefront of chronic pain management to separate the person’s thoughts, moods and emotions from the pain itself.
Dr Claire Jensen says “Mindfulness is about increasing a person’s ability to choose which thoughts are most helpful for them to pay attention to. Increasing aspects of control is important for individuals with chronic pain who often feel like they have lost all control due to pain”.
Dr Claire Jensen practices from Psychology Consutlants at Newmarket. To read more about Dr Jensen visit: psychologyconsultants.com.au/teammemberprofile/dr-claire-jensen/