What Is Psychological Intervention To Manage Chronic Pain?
The existence of pain is part of an evolutionary mechanism that allows us to react quickly when something goes wrong with our health. In fact, it is so useful that all vertebrate animals and a good part of invertebrates have the ability to feel it, and people with pathologies that prevent them from feeling pain have a much higher risk of continuing to compromise their physical integrity.
However, in the same way that the parts of the body responsible for the sensation of pain can be affected by a disease that suppresses it, the opposite can also occur: that due to an alteration, the pain is practically constant, without there being any an element that is damaging the cellular tissues of the body or without anything being able to be done to remedy the problem that generates it. In situations like this we talk about chronic pain; In this article we will see how it is approached in psychotherapy.
Chronic pain is the subjective and localized perception of more or less intense pain that remains relatively constant beyond the healing time; It can last weeks, several months or even years.
The causes of this alteration may be infections, by subjecting certain nerves to pressure or pinching (for example, due to a tumor or an operation with complications) associated with chronic pathologies, or it may be neuropathic, which occurs when the problem is the functioning of the nervous system itself.
These sensations of discomfort can occur through various subjective experiences: from pricks, to tingling, burning, or deep pain that affects more or less large areas of the body. In addition, These symptoms can vary in a matter of hours and intensify under certain conditions: for example, on days of greatest physical activity or at times when the person can’t stop thinking about their own pain.
Psychological intervention techniques in chronic pain
Since the sensation caused by pain varies from one person to another, psychological interventions must always be adapted to the needs of each patient and the type of discomfort they experience. But going beyond particular cases, There are a series of therapeutic procedures that have been statistically shown to be effective against chronic pain.. We will see them below.
1. Relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques aim to reduce the person’s levels of tension, stress and anxiety, and allow the focus of attention to be shifted beyond discomfort.
These types of procedures They are based on the assumption that pain increases with anxiety, stress and excessive activation of the person’s body.both at the cardiac level and in general tension levels.
2. Biofeedback
Biofeedback consists of creating a context in which the patient can obtain information in real time about their level of activation (thanks to sensors applied to their skin), especially in relation to their nervous activity.
This allows the person with chronic pain to incorporate a series of useful strategies for emotional management and regulation of certain physiological processes; In this way, it manages to normalize the altered physiological activation and regulation systems.
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3. Hypnosis
Clinical hypnosis is another psychological therapy that has demonstrated positive effects when it comes to managing and mitigating chronic pain. It is a procedure based on suggestion and in the establishment of a state of consciousness similar to that which appears just before sleeping, which allows one to abstract from discomfort and direct the mind towards other sources of stimulation.
4. Mindfulness
Mindfulness is a series of practices that favor the appearance of a psychological state known as Mindfulness, which allows you to get rid of intrusive thoughts and emotional dynamics that perpetuate discomfort. It is inspired by Vipassana meditation.
5. Techniques linked to the cognitive-behavioral model and ACT
Chronic pain is usually linked to psychological problems that go beyond the pain itself and are reflected in anxiety and depressive-type symptoms; Both sources of discomfort reinforce each other. For this reason, in therapy we also work to weaken the alteration due to its purely emotional aspect and associated with certain beliefs and feelings about oneself and the illness one suffers from.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy is one of the most used by psychologists, and its application combined with appropriate medical treatment has proven successful in effectively reducing a person’s pain and the negative moods that cause it. It consists of a modification of belief systems, thought patterns, thoughts and habits that without us realizing it are reinforcing and perpetuating the disorder that affects us.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT (Acceptance and commitment therapy) is part of contextual therapies, which in turn are based on the cognitive-behavioral model. This is based on the importance of not adopting behavioral patterns associated with avoiding discomfort at all costs, given that this strategy gives rise to the paradoxical effect of paying more attention to what makes us feel bad. Thus, it proposes ways to accept the existence of physical and/or emotional pain, at least to a certain extent, so that the rest of the day-to-day experiences and sensations take away its prominence and favor its mitigation.
If you are interested in starting a therapy process for chronic pain, contact our team of professionals. In Cribecca Psychology We have many years of experience addressing this type of alterations and the psychopathologies associated with it. We offer face-to-face sessions and also in the online therapy format.
