How a Pain Journal Can Help You Regain Control Over Chronic Pain

Many people suffering from chronic pain describe a profound sense of lost control, and an inability to manage their bodies or health. Repeated visits to doctors and specialists without receiving a solution only intensify this sense of helplessness.

This feeling of loss of control has serious consequences. Despair and helplessness are just two examples. A person in despair may eventually stop trying to improve their situation, which can lead to a worsening or even irreversible condition. Despair is also contagious in that when the individual gives up, family and friends are likely to give up as well, abandoning their attempts to support and provide help.

Pain Journal

One helpful technique for managing chronic pain is maintaining a structured pain journal. The idea is simple: record every instance of pain, along with its intensity on a scale from 1 to 10- where 1 indicates very mild pain and 10 indicates extreme, debilitating pain.

Typically, even those with chronic pain do not experience the same intensity all day long. However, their perception of the pain may be skewed- they often remember only the worst moments, and thus believe they are suffering at a constant high intensity.

This distorted perception leads them to resign themselves to the pain and assume they cannot function at all. They internalize an identity of “a person in pain” and allow that to define them. As a result, they avoid pursuing their capabilities and potential in other areas of life, often due to an “all-or-nothing” mindset.

Journaling can help these individuals recognize that their pain actually fluctuates. There are often significant parts of the day when the pain is absent or low enough to allow for activity and productivity. These lower-pain periods can become anchor points and opportunities to engage in meaningful action, improving mood and overall well-being.

Shifting the Mindset

When a person is stuck in the belief that their pain is always a constant 8, they never test their abilities during the lower-pain periods. They generalize their lowest moments to their entire day and never take advantage of the better hours.

As a result, they don't live according to their true capacity, but rather according to their automatic thoughts, beliefs, and distorted perceptions. In doing so, they miss countless opportunities for positive engagement that could lift their mood and improve their mental health.

Real change occurs when a person learns to recognize the variations in their pain and align their actions with their current capabilities. This allows them to use the lower-pain hours for personal growth instead of spending the entire day in survival mode centered around the pain.