stress

Chronic pain, a persistent and often misunderstood condition, affects millions worldwide. Unlike acute pain, which is temporary, chronic pain endures for months or even years, significantly impacting a person’s quality of life. This persistent discomfort can impair a person's ability to work, socialize, and maintain relationships.

In my practice, I often work with people who struggle with chronic migraines. I also work with a significant number of people who struggle with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), as well. The invisible nature of chronic pain often leads to misconceptions, exacerbating feelings of isolation and frustration for those affected. Beyond the physical toll, people can experience anxiety, depression, struggles within relationships -- chronic pain can impact the day-to-day and sexual functioning of relationships -- and an overall diminished quality of life.

The Emotional Impact

Living with chronic pain can have a significant impact on your emotional wellbeing. For example, you may experience feelings of frustration, anger, anxiety, or depression as you struggle to cope with persistent discomfort, as well as the threat of the next occurrence.

It is also common for relationships to suffer as partners may struggle to fully understand the extent of your chronic pain. Many have been told things such as, "Your migraine is just a headache," or, "It's all in your head," or even, "You would stop getting them if you really wanted to," and so on. These kinds of comments can leave people feeling ashamed, misunderstood, angry, and alone as they continue to struggle.

Common Myths Associated With Chronic Pain

If Your Pain is Invisible, You Must Be Fine

Chronic pain often lurks beneath the surface, invisible to the naked eye. You may appear fine externally, but internally, you’re battling constant discomfort. This disconnect between appearance and reality can lead to harmful misconceptions and judgments. People might assume that you can’t suffer that much if you don’t look like you’re in pain. These kinds of assumptions not only come from people out in the world, but often even from close family members.

If You Can Function, It Must Not Be Bad

Another pervasive myth is that if you can work or attend events, your pain can’t be severe. However, people with chronic pain often push through immense discomfort to maintain some semblance of normalcy. Every activity requires careful consideration, knowing there's a risk of the pain coming on or getting worse. The ability to function doesn’t negate the constant presence of pain. For the most part, people with chronic pain have essentially learned to function in spite of their pain.

The Idea that Chronic Pain is Only Physical

Chronic pain’s impact goes beyond the physical. It affects your mental health, intimate relationships, sex life, social relationships, and overall quality of life. It is important for people who struggle with chronic pain to not only receive support in these areas, but also that their supports are able to understand the ripple effect of chronic pain beyond the physical.

Chronic Pain is Medical Only

This is a myth that doesn't get enough attention. While some elements of migraines and certain other types of chronic pain can have medical bases, chronic pain is often caused and exacerbated by body responses to emotional struggles. For example, the impacts of old traumas carried with you over time, or recent or ongoing traumas can all have a significant impact on the mind and body. Anxiety, depression, and stress can also cause the body to physiologically respond with debilitating migraines, GI symptoms, back pain, and more. Unless there is a clearly identified medical basis for one's chronic pain, chronic pain has often shown to be interconnected between medical and mental health.

Living With and Working Through Chronic Pain

One of the things that people struggle with the most with chronic migraines is that they never know when the next migraine is going to strike. This goes to show that even the pain-free days can often hold the most anxiety, while the painful days are the most physically debilitating. Either way, it is all emotionally and physically exhausting and draining for people who struggle with chronic pain.

Much of what I do in my practice for chronic migraines and pain is help people work through the emotional side of the struggle -- both the emotional impacts of dealing with chronic pain, as well as what may be exacerbating it on a deeper level. I have seen people whose chronic pain has mostly (and even fully) subsided after working through deeper carried traumas. When the body can release stored tensions, anxieties, and the impact of painful experiences, it can lighten the weight of chronic pain with it.

#MentalHealth #ChronicPain #Headache #Migraine #Anxiety #Depression #Stress #IrritableBowelSyndromeIBS

Do you ever feel like you’re constantly on edge, even when everything seems fine on the surface? This may be a sign of high-functioning anxiety.

This mental health issue can be a tough one to spot, especially when you’re doing well at work and also maintaining a personal life. However, beneath what might be a calm exterior, you may notice your mind racing, or feeling out of sync in your body, or symptoms of discomfort, headaches, digestive issues, or others. Or, if you’ve noticed tendencies towards things such as perfectionism or people-pleasing, or more, these can all be masking something more profound beneath the surface.

High-functioning anxiety is like having a secret battle within yourself while appearing calm and collected on the outside. You may be an overachiever who’s always on top of things, but internally, you’re wrestling with constant worry and self-doubt.

While it's not an official diagnosis, it's a term used to describe the ability to manage your daily life well in spite of experiencing significant anxiety symptoms. You might excel at work or school, or even at home around your family, but the pressure to maintain that facade can be exhausting.

5 Common Symptoms of High-Functioning Anxiety

You might be dealing with high-functioning anxiety if you experience these common signs:

Perfectionism: You’re always striving for flawlessness, often at the cost of your well-being.

People-pleasing: You have difficulty saying no and often put others’ needs before yours.

Overthinking: Your mind constantly races with “what-ifs” and worst-case scenarios.

Insomnia: Anxiety keeps you up at night, making it difficult to fall or stay asleep.

Physical symptoms: You might experience headaches, muscle tension, or digestive issues.

Perfectionism

You might find yourself constantly striving for flawless results in everything you do. This relentless pursuit of perfection can be exhausting, leaving you feeling like nothing is ever quite good enough. You may obsess over minor details, repeatedly redo tasks, or struggle to complete projects because they’re not “perfect” yet (and never quite seem to be). This perfectionism can stem from a number of possibilities. Some include a deeper fear of failure or judgment, or from experiences of judgment and criticism in the past, or consequences of imperfection in the past that go deeper -- such as experiencing constantly arguing parents and the way to try to control this was to become a more perfect child. Any of these, and other possibilities can drive you to set impossibly high standards for yourself.

People-Pleasing

You constantly say “yes” to others, even when already stretched thin. The thought of disappointing someone sends waves of anxiety through you. You’ll go to great lengths to avoid conflict, often at the expense of your own needs and desires. It's actually quite common for people-pleasing to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. People are afraid to say "no", so they commit to things that they often may not be able to deliver on. Leading to the exact disappointment from others they're hoping to prevent. This people-pleasing tendency can also stem from a number of possibilities. Some include fear of rejection or criticism, or fear of being a disappointment, or on a deeper level, trying to take care of a reactive parent who needed to be settled before you could feel like you had the safe space to feel settled. While it may seem harmless, it can lead to burnout and resentment, and quickness to become irritable.

Overthinking

You find yourself constantly analyzing every situation, replaying conversations, and imagining worst-case scenarios. Your mind races with “what-ifs” and potential outcomes, making it difficult to relax or focus on the present. This mental loop can be exhausting, yet you might feel it’s necessary in order to stay prepared, or to be sure you won't forget something important, and other possibilities. Remember, while some planning is helpful, excessive overthinking often leads to unnecessary stress and anxiety.

Insomnia

You keep yourself up at night with racing thoughts, or the body is still in fight-or-flight mode, unable to fully relax. The racing thoughts consume your mind and makes it difficult to sleep, whether because they can't stop, or because it's scary to let go of thoughts you may feel you need to hold onto. Some people may fall asleep, but wake up in the middle of the night with racing thoughts and find it difficult to fall back to sleep.

Furthermore, many people with high-functioning anxiety will wake up early in hopes of squeezing in some extra time to work, leading to exhaustion and also being mentally and emotionally depleted, eventually.

Physical Symptoms

Your body often speaks louder than words with high-functioning anxiety. You might notice your heart racing or your palms sweating in seemingly normal situations. Tension headaches, migraines, and muscle aches can become unwelcome companions. These physical manifestations, while uncomfortable, are your body’s way of signaling that something is going on beneath your calm exterior that needs attention.

Moving Forward and Finding Relief

If you’ve been reading along here, recognizing some of the above within you, this is actually good first step to getting a handle on these unwanted anxieties. Remember, you’re not alone in this—lots of people deal with high-functioning anxiety every day. There are many ways to manage it and to work through the deeper players in what you're dealing with, which people often work through in therapy. It is possible to find relief.

#Anxiety #MentalHealth #Stress

I take my pills and follow all my doctors’ directions. I think I’m doing better, maybe even getting well, and then the stress of everyday life sends me to my knees (literally). Any advice? #PTSD #Stress #Aphasia

Start the week right get coffee 😂

What to do during weekends?

Too much...

#Stress #Grief #Anxiety #Depression #HashimotosThyroiditis #MajorDepressiveDisorder #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder

So Im the Executrix of my parents' estate. They both died within 4 months last year. I'm exhausted. Also my husband has been renovating our kitchen so my house is a wreck. I've been using hemp gummies to moderate my Xanax use but I ran out and IDK.... I'm still working. Some days that's all I can do. Probate deadline in 2 weeks and I'm not ready. UGH. Please send encouragement or prayers or good vibes - whatever you can❣️😭 P.S. this Pic is how I feel. Or think. 😪

Always remember ❤️