How Mindset Affects Chronic Pain
The CDC estimates more than 20% of all Americans experience chronic pain. “Chronic pain conditions typically are something that we have to manage greater than three months or even a lifetime.”
Sharon Krispinsky helps run Lee Health’s Chronic Pain Self-Management Program. “We meet once a week for six weeks and we teach you a variety of tools to manage chronic pain.”
She said mindset can have an impact on your physical health. “What research is shown is the more negative you are, the more disabled you become, so we teach how to change that negativity into a more positive outlook.”
Those with chronic pain are often dealing with anxiety and depression. In the workshop they teach tools to help manage those difficult emotions. “What we find in this workshop is when you use a distraction, not only are your pain symptoms less intense, but you can tolerate that pain for a longer duration period of time,” said Krispinsky.
They also speak to the importance of a healthy diet, exercise, mindfulness, and breathing techniques. “By the end of the six weeks we have participants that are going out to lunch with friends they realize that they were their own worst enemy that they felt because they were in pain, they couldn’t do anything or enjoy the activities of daily living so we teach all these tools so they can engage in life again,” said Krispinsky.
More than 60% of participants’ report decreased pain afterwards. You can sign up for the free workshop by searching for Chronic Pain Self-Management Program on leehealth.org.
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Lee Health in Fort Myers, FL is the largest network of health care facilities in Southwest Florida and is highly respected for its expertise, innovation and quality of care. For more than 100 years, we’ve been providing our community with personalized preventative health services and primary care to highly specialized care services and robotic assisted surgeries.
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