Whether our pain be physical or mental in nature, today’s society has become increasingly reliant upon modern medicine to anesthetize pain.  While I’ve no arguments that western medicine provides miracles  with respect to what it can do to alleviate discomfort, our search for ‘pain management’ has shifted our paradigm from self reliance to medical intervention. 

One of the most clear examples I can site is the shift in popularity from Lamaze classes to the common use of the epidural.  Childbirth is a huge event associated often associated with excruciating pain, and while I’ve no personal vendetta against women that choose the latter, its simply interesting to observe the collective shift that’s been made in our societies mindset over the past century. 

Of course, the examples stretch far beyond childbirth.  Today we take medication that masks pain for back aches, head aches, panic attacks, depression, anxiety, indigestion and tooth aches.  Many of us at the sign of the first symptom search for the quickest relief in the medicine cabinet rather than the looking to identify the source of the pain such that it can be healed.  Maybe that tooth wouldn’t have hurt so bad if it were flossed more regularly.  Maybe we’d be less anxious if we experienced a panic attack in its fullest such that we better understood its nature rather than hiding from it every time it arose.

I am not suggesting that we throw away all of our pain medication – for sure there is a time and place for its use.  Quite often it may be essential for even our survival.  Imagine what would happen if someone underwent open heart surgery without anesthesia!  Personally, I’ve had six bone marrow biopsies - several with limited to no medication & I tell you I’ll never opt for that procedure again without drugs!  I am, however, suggesting that we may be able to limit future pain by allowing ourselves to experience it such that we can understand it more fully and move forward.

What do I mean by this?  Imagine two situations of someone experiencing the same migraine headache.  In the first, the person is completely consumed by it.  They proclaim that the world is terrible, how could they be experiencing such a wretched life, they don’t understand how the everything can be so unfair, and they proclaim their miseries to anyone that crosses their path.  The second person chooses to experience the pain. To observe it.  She notices that its quite uncomfortable.  In fact it feels like a small knife wedging itself between her eye and her brain that ever so slowly creeps upward and inward. Shortly that pain subsides and she notices a dull forceful pressure, like her head was being slowly wedged in a vice.  This person notices that if she focuses on deep breaths that shifting her attention seems to alleviate the pain some.  This is where she focuses her efforts.  She is not pleased with the pain, but choose not let it consume who she is. 

There are many times in life where our avoidance of pain has stunted our personal growth.  To name a few:

• When relationships are sour and we’re too stubborn or hurt to face what must be done
• When we’ve become reliant on medication to manage physical ailments that could be otherwise managed through mind-body work
• When we give up at the first resistance towards achieving our goals because the path forward seems too hard
• When we do not act the way we’d like to because we fear rejection

Of course there are many many more examples.  Often when we experience pain, we begin to realize that its not as bad as we once feared.  Having someone look at you funny because of what you did may not be as bad as you anticipated.  Getting rejected for that date really isn’t so bad.  Feeling the migraine and knowing that you can deal with it when you are not near the medicine cabinet in the future can be extremely empowering.  Best of all, when we seek to experience the pain, rather than to anesthetize it, we often become present as to how to overcome the underlying problem rather than simply learning how to mask it with quick fixes. 

Clearly, one must be aware of the side affect when they anesthetize any sort of pain.  This is true whether pain be physical or mental in nature and whether the anesthesia be in the form of a pill or a habit.  Addiction to medication or behavior patterns can be crippling and a source of pain in and of itself.   

Ask yourself:  How might I grow by facing and experiencing my pain?  Where do I seek anesthesia and is there another way to resolve the underlying problem?  Would I be willing to resolve this if I knew it was not the quick fix?

Be Well

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