Chronic Pain: Managing Pain With Healthy Thinking

[Sound of man giving a speech] [Host] Imagine that you're on a stage giving a speech.

And right in the front row there's a guy holding up signs that say negative things.

How would that make you feel? How well do you think you'd do?

Well, a lot of people with chronic pain do that to themselves.

And thoughts are powerful.

Negative thoughts ... like "I'll never feel better" or "Nothing relieves my pain" ... can lead to stress, depression, and anxiety ... and those things can actually make your pain worse.

But what if ... instead of "Nothing relieves my pain" ... you said to yourself, "There are things I can do that help"?

That's a really different message.

Now ... you may feel like you don't have a lot of control over your thoughts.

But you do. And you can learn to replace unhealthy thoughts with healthy ones ... by using three simple steps: Stop ... Ask ... and Choose.

Start by paying attention to what your mind is telling you.

This can take some practice. When you catch a negative thought ... ... hit the "Stop" button.

Next ... "Ask." Shine a spotlight on that thought ... ... and ask yourself, "How true is this thought? Is it helpful?"

Then, "Choose."

Come up with a replacement thought ... one that can change the way you feel.

Okay ... now, let's see how it works for Lisa.

[Lisa] "I'm already in pain. I won't make it through the whole day at work.

Wait--that's not actually right.

I know that if I take my medicine now ... and I get up and walk around for a few minutes every hour ... I can keep my pain at a level I can handle."

[Host] Okay, if you're ready ... you can try it.

Think of a time recently when you had an unhelpful thought ... Ask yourself: How true was that thought? How helpful was it?

Now, see if you can turn it around ... and come up with a replacement thought, one that can help you instead of discourage you.

At first, maybe you could think of a few possible replacement thoughts ... and then pick the one that feels the best.

If this was hard to do, don't worry.

Healthy thinking is a skill, and it may take some time to learn it.

But with practice, you'll get better at replacing unhealthy thoughts ... ones that make you feel down ... with thoughts that help you feel calm and more in control.

And the three steps ... Stop, Ask, Choose ... are something you can start doing today.

So, what do you think? How could healthier thinking help you?