Something I don't see talked about a ton in the chronic pain community is how physical pain stresses out the body and mind. It's harder to think when in pain (brain fog), and because your body is under a lot of stress, it can lower the threshold for other stressors.
I know that if I'm in pain, I can't handle as much stimulation or mental/emotional stress. It's a lot easier for me to break down crying on my high pain days—not just bc I'm in pain but because it's harder for me to process things emotionally while my body is under stress from pain. For the same reason, it can be difficult to think as quickly or clearly. I can even have a hard time speaking.
I feel a lot of pressure from society to push through the pain. To keep going despite how hard it is to think or to process the world or my feelings while I'm in pain. Today, when I was in lots of pain, my friend told me to relax, to take it easy. And it was really, really hard. I needed so much reassurance that I didn't need to keep pushing. That everything would still be okay if I stopped treading water and just floated instead.
I'm not totally sure what my point here is, if there is any. But I think we need to be especially kind to ourselves on high pain days. And we need to let ourselves know when it's time to rest, even if it's the last thing we want to do.
turnnoffyourmind
jbbartram-illu
baratheonpilled
theartofmadeline
origamiaround
snowghoul
kianamaiart
stormborns
dededos
