Scroll Tree Osteopathy

Addressing the emotional and psychological dissociation from the physical body is often the first step in the recovery of chronic pain.

Understandably, after years of torment and pain, the patient inevitably dissociates from their body to some degree as a way to cope with the unrelenting physical discomfort.  In this situation, we must begin the task of having the patient befriend their pain, invite it back into the room (so to speak), and listen to what message it is trying to get across.  This is where professional mental health support is valuable in conjunction with physical therapy.  Often, by the time a patient reaches the chronic pain level, all of their alarm bells are screaming, and so making sense of the amplified messages can be difficult.  This is where a team of health care professionals step in to help translate physical/psychological symptoms and help the patient make sense of the underlying issue.

In other instances, some patients begin to identify with their pain rather than dissociate from it.  They cease to be John Doe and start to identify as their health condition.  We see this often clinically, where the pain takes precedence and displaces the patient from the drivers seat in their body.  Often these patients identify primarily as a ‘cancer survivor’, a ‘fibro victim’, an ‘MS patient’, and the list goes on. 

Eckhart Tolle writes on this phenomenon, coining the term “Pain Body” to describe the state of being when we dissociate as a result of being overwhelmed by our mental and physical circumstances.

When we are in an unconscious state, we allow the Pain Body to take over. Some patients tend to be complacent in their therapy because they resist taking responsibility for their state of wellness, choosing instead to defer to their diagnosis.  With these patients, it is important to empower them and encourage them to get back in the drivers seat so that they can steer themselves toward health again.   It is important to remind these patients that They are not their pain… They are more than the sum of their diagnoses.  

There is often difficulty in getting the driver back in the drivers seat in the initial phases of treatment, but it is important that the therapist works to establish some level of coherence before digging into the treatment of physical symptoms.  Consciousness is key in the road to health.  Many patients harbour anger and resentment toward their body and essentially toward themselves for not being able to ‘muscle through’ their pain.  They feel their bodies have failed them and they feel helpless in their pain.  Empowering the patient to shift their understanding and perception of their Pain Body is crucial. 

There is a distinct difference between pain and suffering.

  Pain has a purpose.  Suffering is a choice.  It is possible to live in pain with minimal suffering.  It is possible to be in pain but be empowered.  Wellness is relative.  Rollin Becker, DO, was once quoted as saying that was successful in helping all his patients die well.  Wellness is relative.  Let’s redefine our perception of pain and of suffering.  Suffering cannot thrive in a room if we deprive it of its shadows, if we light up our temple with consciousness.  As a teacher once quipped, “It’s hard for the squatters to live in a conscious house” (Forget, Chronic Pain, 2017). 

It is important also for the clinician and patient to co-establish the realistic parameters and goals of treatment.  Although full recovery is sometimes impossible after certain accidents, and we may not be able to stop a disease process, we can still bolster the inherent health straining to shine through despite numerous limitations.  We can help our clients find their personal level of wellness in whatever stage of life they are currently in.

Having the patient take internal inventory of their physical, emotional and psychological state is necessary in this initial phase of treatment.  Creating a support system complete with health care professionals, family, friends, and support groups are key to this end.  We must help the patient work to become conscious of where they are at today.  This is where our work together begins.