Chronic Pain and Depression

Depression is often an unfortunate and seriously troubling companion to chronic pain. Thousands of patients undergoing treatment for painful symptoms have reported at least some depression associated with their illness. My own personal bout with depression was not related to pain, but I recognize the relationship, and wanted to print a short article for those readers whose pain and depression have caused problems in their lives. Below is a link to a great article I found. I hope it helps, and please feel free to leave me a comment.

Chronic pain and depression

I Don't Feel Like It

"I Don't Feel Like It."

If you're like me, suffering the effects of clinical depression, I'm sure you've uttered that phrase more than once. No matter what I attempt, either through traditional or alternative means, I still have days that I just don't want to participate in the daily activities that comprise this thing we call life. Today is one such day.

When I woke up this morning, I felt "blah." You know what I mean? The whole world just looked gray and lifeless, yet there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I tried to shake the feeling--I showered, exercised and even meditated--but I just couldn't get going. Sometimes I feel that days like these take away far more than just 24 hours. They seem to have a lingering effect that's hard to put into words.

So today, instead of offering advice, I'm going to ask for some. What sort of things have you tried to beat these "blue" days? With your permission I'd like to reprint some of your responses in hope that they will help others who are also struggling. Leave me a comment or send me an email. Thanks.

Anxiety and Meditation

In my ongoing struggle with anxiety, I tried many different techniques attempting to diminish the effect the symptoms had on my everyday life. Unfortunately for me, meditation is a treatment option I learned fairly late, but I am, nonetheless, glad I discovered it.

I won't pretend to be an expert at the art of the meditation because I am not. For all the "how to" info I'll provide a link, but I do want to give testament to its effectiveness. Meditation helped clear all the clutter I was carrying around, and taught me how to live in the moment, accepting life and my experiences within it, rather than obsessing on the past and worrying unnecessarily about the future. It helped me to be okay with who I am, and that was a relief.

If you haven't yet tried meditation, I urge you to give it a try. Follow the link at the bottom for instructions.

Meditation

Does Your Depression Have You Feeling Overwhelmed?

When my depression symptoms were at their worst, my entire life felt unmanageable. It was more than just being sad and apathetic. My mind felt like it was sloshing through heavy, sticky mud, causing my thought processes to slow down and my memory to fade. I was sure there were things I had to do, but most of the time I couldn't remember them, and if I did, I couldn't focus on them. Simple tasks became absolute torture, and I gradually just ignored and avoided my responsibilities to the point that they amassed into one giant overwhelming blob. How was I supposed to live a normal life when my mind wasn't cooperating?

What I didn't know then was that this phenomenon had a name. This inability to concentrate and difficulty with memory is called psychomotor retardation, and it is a frequent and common companion to clinical depression. This new knowledge was a relief--at least I wasn't abnormal (chuckle, chuckle)--but I still had two significant concerns: First I hated the term retardation, for obvious reasons, and second I had know idea how I could mange it.

My mind felt like a bulletin board littered with thousands of incomprehensible post-it-notes. Everything felt incomplete, and I lived constantly with a sense of "I've forgotten something." You know the feeling. Kind of like wondering if you've left the oven on, except the feeling never disappears. It's nagging and persistent and it interferes with every aspect of your waking (and sometimes sleeping) life.

To combat this I implemented a fairly simple strategy that I still follow today. On the days I was feeling a little less murky, I made a list of everything I needed and wanted to do. I arranged and rearranged this list in order of priority and when I finally finished it, I felt an almost immediate sense of relief. All those things I was trying to remember, the things that were bogging down my mind like a jeep in quicksand, were now on paper and OUT of my mind. It was liberating.

Some people claim that "things to do" lists make them anxious. They claim to have this "I have a deadline" feeling, so I'm sure there are some of you out there that will disagree with my reasoning here, but that's okay. This list technique worked for me and maybe it will work for someone else. It's all about finding something that brings relief. In my case, I just felt lighter all over knowing I could now refer to a piece of paper to help guide my day, rather than carrying around incomplete bits of information that were making my mind and life feel cluttered and slushy (I like the word slushy). Maybe--hopefully--it will work for you too. I look forward to your feedback.

Why I Write This Blog: A Note To Anxiety Sufferers

For the targeted readers of this entry--the people who are suffering the symptoms of anxiety-- just sitting here and reading this sentence is a difficult task. Believe me, I know. You feel shaky, breathless and the sense of overall uneasiness, an uneasiness you can't explain or understand, is turning your life upside down. Perhaps you have begun to withdraw from friends and isolate yourself. Maybe the thought of performing simple chores, such as fetching the groceries or picking the kids up from school causes your heart to race, your palms to sweat and fills you with unexplainable dread. I know where you are coming from, I empathize and I want to help.

Last night my girlfriend asked me why I continued to maintain this blog, and after some careful thought I blurted out my reply: "Let's just say I want to pay back "anxiety" for all the misery it has caused in my life." Yep. that's the reason. If I can help only one person navigate this horrible disorder it will be more than worth it. For too many years I suffered this disease silently and, to be perfectly honest, incorrectly. I did all the things I tell others not to do. I isolated myself from others because I thought they could never understand what I was going through. I self-medicated with alcohol, seeking relief that refused to come, and regularly did all the wrong things that resulted in grief and pain.

Anxiety cost me my job, my house, my family and most importantly, my soul. I was a prisoner inside my head and I thought my life was over. For a time I even thought of giving up all together. I just didn't want to be here anymore.

So you see, I do know how you feel. What's more, I can tell you without equivocation that A) You're not going crazy and B) This will not last forever. I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but you will feel better in time.

This blog is intended to provide strategies that worked for me, along with useful tidbits of information I wish I'd had handy when my symptoms were at their worst. Of course not everything will work for everybody, but at the very least I can get it out there for people to decide for themselves. If you have anything you would like to add, please feel free to contact me using the link at the top of this page. Together we can make strides toward a peaceful and content mind which is, after all, the only thing we truly want.