I believe that it's important to note that the psychological defense mechanism called denial can be problematic, but what may surprise you is that at times it can also be helpful. When denial is automatic and unconscious it can lead to life-damaging consequences and prevent people from taking needed action. However, some of the denial patterns can also be used strategically to help overcome problems.
One of these helpful patterns is a type of the avoidance denial pattern called Avoidance by Distraction. This denial pattern can be used in a very positive way to help someone with their pain management. For example I treated one patient who learned to use this distraction tactic to focus on being present with her grandchildren instead of being overly caught up in her suffering. She discovered that when she was truly present with one of her grandchildren she did not notice her pain as much. “Those who have something better to do don't suffer as much.” –- W. Fordyce, Ph.D.
Unfortunately, some people take distraction to the extreme and cause even more damage to their bodies, as well as significantly increasing their pain levels. The goal here is to help people learn to focus their attention on something more interesting and positive than suffering. Positive results will manifest when people undergoing chronic pain management learn to utilize this particular intervention, along with proper activity pacing as well. Some people need to learn to slow down or take it easy, while others need to increase their activity levels and push themselves a little more.
To learn more about chronic pain management and changing your perception of pain please check out my article Coping with Anticipatory Pain , that you can download for free on our Ariticles page.
You can learn more about the Addiction-Free Pain Management® System at our website http://www.addiction-free.com/ If you or a loved one is undergoing chronic pain management, especially if you're in recovery or believe you may have a medication or other mental health problem and you want to learn more effective chronic pain management tools, please go to our Publications page and check out my books; especially the Addiction-Free Pain Management® Recovery Guide: Managing Pain and Medication in Recovery. To purchase this book please Click Here.
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