Coping: what is it?

Some of you will know I’ve been striving to write my PhD proposal lately, ending up with loads more words than actually necessary! However, as part of it I’ve been reviewing some of the material I’ve collected over time on coping.
Coping is one of those difficult words – one we all know, but don’t [...]

Meaning-focused coping – looking for the good things in dark times

I’ve been reading about ways to increase resilience and help people develop strengths to cope with pain, and came across this blog post on Positive Psychology News where Kathryn Britton reviews several papers by Susan Folkman and others who look at ways of coping.  I’ve posted before on the Lazarus and Folkman model of coping [...]

Correlation (even multivariate analysis) is not causation

I’ve been reviewing some of my PhD proposal (it has to be submitted by the end of this week), and considering the topic of coping.  Coping refers to ‘the strategies people use to manage pain and
its impact.’  It is one of the two main topics researched in psychological contributions to the pain experience, with the [...]

Three questions

Yesterday I spent some time with the participants on the pain management programme talking about their experiences in the health care system.  After reading a great wee self help pain management book written by David Hall which has a chapter on how to ‘manage’ being part of the health care system, I decided it might [...]

Returning to work is a complex business

There have been many studies looking at factors that can be used to predict whether a person will return to work after developing pain. Many, quite naturally, look at factors relevant to acute and subacute pain problems, aiming to reduce the number of people eventually progressing to longterm disability. Some people will slip [...]

Do you have to suffer when you have pain?

I’ve read many many reports documenting the experiences of people who have pain.  From medical to physiotherapy to occupational therapy to nursing, without distinction the phrase that leaps from the page is ‘The patient suffered a [insert pain problem here]‘.  Sigh.
My question is, does suffering inevitably accompany pain?  Really? What about the pain that accompanies [...]

Feeling the fear – and not even thinking about doing it

Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is basically the fear of feeling anxious, or feeling anxiety-related symptoms. Typically, when people are fearful of their own symptoms of anxiety, they’ll work to avoid getting into situations where they may experience these symptoms.  AS has been shown to be a predisposing factor in some anxiety-related disorders such as panic attacks.   [...]

Activity levels – a ‘budgeting’ approach

Unlike most of my posts, this one doesn’t have specific research to back it up. I guess this reflects the lack of research in the area of applied pain management! After discussing activity levels, especially over-doing activity, I thought it might be helpful to review some of the ways I’ve worked with people [...]

‘My pain is no different, but I feel differently about it’

Anyone who works in pain management knows that sense of profound satisfaction when someone says ‘My pain is no different, but I feel differently about it’.  It’s a sign that something has shifted for the person, that they’ve started to move towards accepting it, taking charge of life again instead of waiting for, hoping for [...]

Intermittent pain

I think intermittent pain must be one of the more challenging types of pain to have – one minute everything is going fine, then WHAMMO! out of the blue there is a bolt of electricity to hit the body.  The sort of pain I’m talking about here is primarily neuropathic pain, and I’m working with [...]