Tangled in the Web of Illness?

Is your life a tangled web of pain, depression, and anxiety? Perhaps the idea of life without prescribed narcotics is unimaginable, yet you hate the side effects and you prefer alcohol or other drugs to self-medicate your pain?  In spite of your efforts, is pain waking you up early in the morning, shaking you awake with anxiety and worry? Maybe once supportive people are now saying “just snap out of it” while your primary treating physician is suggesting you see a psychiatrist, because “it’s all in your head”?  

Fortunately, it is in your head. We feel pain because our brain receives pain signals warning us to be careful to avoid further injury, sometimes long after the injury itself is healed. Over-aroused by pain and worries, our brains keep us awake, vigilant for further pain, and depressing and exhausting us. Our minds strain as chronic pain takes over our thoughts, making us anxious, irritable, and tired. There are many pieces that create and promote suffering and there is seemingly great treatment available for each, yet nothing seems to work. 

Unfortunately, the greater knowledge acquired in clinical science has also created more specialization, with more specialists to treat each patient’s “parts” or diagnoses. The days of your physician treating all of you seem gone. To untangle the web, one must understand the pieces of the suffering puzzle, put them together and conceptualize the individual treatment plan for you, not your symptoms or diagnoses. 

In assessing my patients, my goals are to harmonize body and mind, decrease unwanted symptoms, and promote increasing longevity and quality of life. Treating the mind and body together results in lasting and effective change.