Over 50 million people live with chronic pain every day and most get no treatment other than what they are able to get and take on their own. The cost of pain is estimated at over a hundred billion dollars each year. Doctors ignore pain problems. In our culture, people tell us to ‘get over it’ and ‘no pain, no gain’. Here’s the truth. Severe and chronic pain can kill. Many people, especially elderly people who feel hopeless and helpless and know there is no relief, commit suicide. Police often do not wish to upset families and do not label these suicides as such.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent non stop by millions of people, trying to get rid of their pain. When there is no hope of getting any pain relief, thoughts of suicide enter an agonized mind. It’s not that a person wants to get dead and get it over with but that they just don’t see a way out. There is a limit to enduring chronic pain. Sometimes the malignant thoughts sneak in and tell you that there is a way out, a permanent way out.
The ugly truth is chronic pain is plainly undertreated by the medical profession. There is a low priority on pain relief, lack of interest in pain management, and worry by doctors that they will get in trouble with controlling agencies if they prescribe opiod medications. They have a suspicion that they could possibily get in trouble for helping someone in pain so they just look the other way. I have heard stories of doctors refusing to adequately medicate terminal patients, fearing these patients would ‘get addicted’.
The fact is undertreatment of chronic pain can push someone into suicide. Ask anyone with ongoing chronic pain if they have considered suicide and if they are honest, over half will admit to having such thoughts.
People who are in pain commit suicide. The problem is pain and no one gets the picture. Pain creates fear, anxiety, and a feeling of being out of control. He or she who is in constant pain feels alone and potentially suicidal. Coping mechanisms go down the drain. Pain and suicide meet when horrible suffering is allowed to continue. Without pain management, there is a pit worse than hell waiting for the sufferers.
Why is it that those with chronic pain lose their coping skills. People with severe pain problems can’t sleep well. They suffer from fatigue and never are completely refreshed from a good sleep. Pain isolates them. They can’t go and do what others are able to do. They lose social interaction and become lonely and feel like the odd ball out.
Relationships become strained. The person in chronic pain becomes irritable, angry, and can take it out on family. The family is turned off and becomes distant. Marital conflict becomes overt.
It becomes horrible to realize that there are now real limitations on activity. Simple activities can aggravate the pain. A feeling of helplessness seeps in.
Pain meds can help but also have side effects. Gastrointestinal problems are frequent. Pain medications can become less effective over time.
People have little long term tolerance for people who are disabled with pain. They do not like to see disability in someone they love and fear that it could be ‘contagious’.
Pain can make people feel different, fearful, anxious, tense, and very depressed.
If you are in constant pain and are thinking about suicide, I know you are only thinking about death as a way to get out of what is unbearable. But there is another way. You have to stand up for yourself and get the help you deserve. Your life is important, you are important. You may not believe this now, but you are a child of God and you are special. You were put on this earth to live out your natural life. You have made an impact on others and they will be terribly hurt and guilty if you leave them this way.
Asking for help and getting it does not make you weak or sick. Asking for help is a sign of strength, a sign of hope, a sign of humility. What you need to be working on is getting legitimate relief from your help, not booze, not illegal drugs. Get involved. Your life is your biggest investment. Take care of it. Believe this. It is precious.
Technorati Tags: suicide and pain, chronic pain and depression, Â terminal pain, pain relief, suicidal depression, pain help