Pain and your mental health

Living with chronic pain can cause a range of unpleasant emotional experiences, such as anxiety, frustration, anger, depression, and shame. This is normal.

We call these experiences 'secondary suffering', as they can often make life more unpleasant. They can also push us to either avoid activity or do much more in one day than our pain can tolerate. 

Managing mood can help to reduce this suffering, and therefore reduce the overall impact of living with chronic pain. For some individuals, stress can trigger an increase in their pain, so it's particularly important to pay close attention to your mood.

The resources below may help you reduce secondary suffering. Take your time to look through it when you feel ready to do so. Everything all at once can be overwhelming, so be kind to yourself and take some time to digest each item before moving on.

Useful resources

• The Chinese Finger Trap metaphor: a document about changing your approach to pain
• Pain and Me: Tamar Pincus talks about chronic pain, acceptance and commitment (YouTube video)
• Acceptance of chronic pain: a document outlining the ongoing process of learning to live with chronic pain
• Self-compassion and pain management
• Challenging unhelpful thoughts and feelings
• Tug of war with a monster (YouTube video)
• The unwelcome party guest (YouTube video)
• Relaxation soundtrack: Soothing rhythm breathing
• Relaxation soundtrack: Progressive muscular relaxation
• Relaxation soundtrack: Leaves on a stream