Emotional Pain can Accompany Chronic Health Conditions

​Exodus 33:14 – The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.

In many ways, emotional pain follows the path of chronic pain.
 
There are times when the pain you experience is just a light breeze. You know it’s there, but you’re able to function and be at peace.
 
This would include:
 

• A mild headache
• Soreness from exercise
• Having a long day at work causing you to be tired and hurt some
• Bumping your head against your car door

 
All of these could be resolved by Tylenol or Ibuprofen and a brief rest.
 
Then there are times when pain starts to speak into your ear and tell you, “It’s getting worse now.” It is at this point that you need to forcibly put your mind onto something else that will completely occupy your mind.
 
This would include:
 

• A migraine
• Pain from falling and breaking your arm
• Overdoing it will yard work and you now have large blisters and bruising from tree limbs accidently hitting your legs

 
All of these may not resolve with simply over-the-counter medications, and you need to see your physician especially if you think you’ve broken a bone.
 
But then there are times when pain has the audacity to walk right up to you and say, “You can’t do this anymore! Not again! I’m winning this war,” and it goes and grabs anxiety by the hand and marches into your every thought and action.
 
This would include:
 

• Chronic pain issues such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or shingles
• Chronic illnesses such as Crohn’s disease or fibromyalgia

 
All of these painful conditions need to be followed by a physician who is trained in treating them. It may include long-term medical care, because many chronic conditions don’t go away.
 
Whatever the depth and strength of the pain someone with a health condition experiences, it is indeed accompanied by emotional pain. The anxiety caused by meeting new physicians to join your team of providers alone can send you in a tail spin. There also can be an element of depression experienced when one learns they may never be the same again.
 
Healthtalk.org, their article, “Coping With the Emotional Impact of Chronic Pain,” provides video clip interviews with people who suffer from chronic pain and how they cope with it. One of the people interviewed had a difficult time at first with the idea of seeing a psychologist and wondered how he could help the patient through the rough times. But once the patient went, he discovered that it did help.
 
Once the pain or illness has taken such a toll on your life, you must realize that you can’t do this alone. And it’s there, at that point of surrender, that a psychologist can help and God can help you if you let him. And it’s there, at that point of surrender, that God picks you up, cradles you in his arms and says, “Pain and anxiety may think they’re winning the battle, but I will win the war for you. So rest. I’m here.”

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