Do you put things off in your life because you worry about triggering your chronic pain? If so, you are not alone! If you suffer from a health condition where your pain levels can fluctuate on a daily basis, it is likely that you are going to feel cautious about doing activities or accepting commitments, social and work ones, in case it backfires and causes a flair up.

This is really understandable, but unfortunately, often the more we procrastinate over doing something, the more anxiety and worry it can cause us. We may start ruminating about how to deal with a task or an invitation. Should you just do it and suffer later when you’ve overdone it because you don’t want to admit to someone that you can’t realistically manage it? Do you turn down an invite because you couldn’t manage a whole evening out? Would someone get upset if you committed to a social event, and then had to leave early because you can’t cope with all of it?

When we start worrying about things, we start to feel obsessed, anxious and tense. The muscular tension then causes a lot of discomfort, which increases pain levels. Increased pain then means less energy and less motivation, which results in more procrastination.

So, what can help to break the cycle?

• Break tasks down into small steps
• Limit tasks to 3 every day to limit the boom/bust cycle.
• On a bad pain day, stick to a few small steps but try not to stop completely
• Start with 5 minutes on each task – on a bad pain day that may be enough
• Have a mix of activities where each one can be either: Purposeful; Achievable or Pleasurable

Do not use up all your energy doing chores! Whatever type of day you are having with your pain, you need to conserve some to just relax and be kind to yourself. 

Finally, you don’t have to do everything on your own – it’s fine to ask someone to help you.

If you need some help to tame chronic pain effectively, check out my website for more resources and therapy:

Dr Sue Webb
Clinical Psychologist
November 2023