All of us will experience pain in our lives. If you are one of the millions of people who suffer from chronic or acute pain, you are at increased risk for developing depression. Chronic pain impacts your mental health as days pass by with little relief from discomfort, which is debilitating.

“I can’t do the things I used to do.”

“No one understands me.”

“Why me?”

“Will this pain ever go away?”

“I can’t take this pain anymore!”

Acute pain is identified as pain that lasts three to six months. Chronic pain is pain that lasts six months or longer and significantly limits your physical activity. Causes of acute or chronic pain can be the result of an accident or injury or could be from illness or other disorders just as arthritis, fibromyalgia, or cancer. People who suffer from mental health disorders also report experiencing acute or chronic pain as part of their mental health symptoms.

People who suffer from chronic or acute pain often lose interest in activities they once enjoyed, isolate from friends and family, report change in sleep habits and appetite, express feelings of guilt, experience a decrease in energy, and have more difficulties concentrating.

These are also symptoms of depression and worthy of your attention.

Living with chronic pain is stressful and directly impacts your quality of life. Chronic pain impacts your self-esteem. You might not feel as worthy or valuable as you once did. You might not be able to keep up with day-to-day tasks or do the things you once enjoyed. Living with the stress of chronic pain can have a negative impact on your mood and your outlook on life. You might even begin to feel hopeless.

When you live with chronic pain, your brain and neurological functioning are impacted in ways that increase your risk for developing mental health disorders. This combined with learning a new way of living that might not resemble your life before chronic pain often results in developing depression and anxiety. Both the underlying cause of the pain and the mental health disorder will need to be addressed.

You will need to obtain the appropriate treatment team for your specific situation. Your treatment team may include pain management specialists, medical providers, physical therapists, occupational therapists, neurologists, nutritionists or dietitians, and mental health providers.

Coping with chronic pain requires you to develop the skills to manage stress and coping strategies to help your body relax. Your new life might look different than what you imagined for yourself, and it is understandable if this loss causes you to grieve.

Grieve, but don’t give up.

With the right treatment team, you can learn pain management skills to optimize your daily functioning. Using the pain and distress management strategies to be able to find joy and participate in the activities of everyday life, you can learn to find ways to “escape from the pain”, find acceptance for your new reality, and move on with life as much as possible.

You can lessen your daily suffering from pain.

You don’t have to suffer alone.

Learn more About Me and the Services I offer.

Tonya Molnar, PhD, LMHC, MHP specializes in insomnia and sleep health, trauma, and chronic pain and illness therapy with additional training in CBT-i for insomnia and CBT for chronic pain and illness management. As she completes her PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision, it is her honor to serve clients in Washington State using a telemental health approach at this time.