Chronic pain is defined as a bodily discomfort that lasts longer than six months. The severity of chronic pain can be mild, or extremely intense, consistent or sporadic. While some people can live functioning lives with chronic pain, others can be incapacitated for months and years at a time.

Common Symptoms of Chronic Pain

• irregular sleep patterns
• fatigue
• social isolation
• inability to participate in activities
• declining interpersonal relationships
• mood changes
• irregular eating patterns

Causes

While medical treatment should be sought to rule out physiological factors, often chronic pain can be a result of untreated depression, anxiety, or grief.

Treatment

Often people are resistant to seeking therapy for chronic pain because they don’t believe their problem could have an emotional root, or they don’t believe that therapy can provide relief, or a decrease in discomfort. In cases where an emotional concern is in fact the cause of chronic pain, therapy can help release that which has been held, and that which over time, has caused the discomfort. When emotional blocks are encountered, processed, and contextualized in a way that supports wellness, chronic pain symptoms can abate almost immediately.

When chronic pain has physiological or medical origins, therapy can help lessen the symptoms created by chronic pain. Meditation, relaxation techniques, and subtle body movements can all be learned to decrease the intensity of chronic pain.

We Can Help

Open Path’s therapists offer beneficial services that encourage insight, self-reflection, and healthy coping mechanisms. They can aid in helping clear up or lessen the intensity of chronic pain, and that accompanies it.

Interested in seeing one of our therapists for a rate you can afford? Start your search here.

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