Effects of Chronic Pain on Daily Life

Social life and connections with loved ones

It’s common for pain patients to withdraw from social activity. This can be for many reasons including not feeling up to going out, being afraid that social activity will worsen their pain symptoms or not feeling able to keep up with loved ones.

Lack of understanding, stigma and frustration from loved ones can affect relationships. Likewise when you’re in pain or feel misunderstood it can make you irritable and annoyed, which can make family connections strained. Often loved ones want to help, but in trying to do so can actually perpetuate fear avoidance and withdrawal from activity, which leads to worsened symptoms.

This study explains that, “it has been reported that half of the patients in pain indicated that their condition had prevented them from attending social or family events, and similarly, almost half of the individuals with pain symptoms had less contact with their family.”

Levels of functioning

When your levels of functioning are reduced it can impact your life massively. All areas of your life can be impacted including exercise; hobbies and interests; work; housework; self care and more!

This study from the Journal of Pain Research explains that pain levels can have a, “decisive influence on a patient’s physical performance, diminishing their physical activity and even causing disability, which in turn affects other aspects of their daily life.”

Independence

Reduced levels of functioning and difficulty carrying out certain tasks may mean that you need to ask for help regularly. This can be really frustrating and for some, even embarrassing. A loss of independence can be difficult to cope with and hard to negotiate practically in your daily life.