Quote:
Originally Posted by mrsD
Yesterday was a topic included called the "solicitous spouse".. which is a term for placing undo attention on pain and daily management. It is a psychological term to explain that when attention is constantly given either by someone outside of you to your pain, or if YOU yourself pays undo attention to it, then the pain becomes a reinforced behavior in the brain, mediated by dopamine, a neurotransmitter that facilitates learning, and ultimately "addiction" type behaviors in some.
This concept is not going to be greeted with open arms by people with chronic pain, IMO... but it is one step to learning how to live with it and perhaps master it.
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You may be correct, but it sounds like one of those theories concocted by someone who has never had to deal with the problem personally; something we have to deal with all too often.
IME (in discussions), painees fall into two schools of thought which seem to hinge on whether they reach "acceptance" and their interpretation of what that means. Many "authorities" claim an important key to living/coping with pain is in accepting it.
Some of us disagree, and equate acceptance with surrender/acqiescence. I agree with the first paragraph above
at face value (without benefit of all the details/depth) because I believe I've been through something
similar. But I credit my
refusal to accept with motivating me to evolve past that plateau. I have tried to use my anger and frustration to focus on positive goals, which is no easy feat with a degenerative intractable dx.
Others impressions/opinions
will vary, because we all view this thing a little differently - whatever gets us through the days & nights.
Doc