Chronic conditions
G. had a terrible lower backache. His work forced him to sit daily for many hours. He was wearing a lower back brace, to ‘hold’ him up and ‘support’ him. Years of physiotherapy didn’t do much to help his condition. G was attached to his back brace and felt uncomfortable to take it off. Living with back pain taught him to be ‘very careful’. It seemed that faulty habitual use caused the system to manifest pain. X rays and scans revealed no real damage or injury.
People with chronic conditions deal with multiple issues:
The cause of the pain
Habits of thinking and management
Patterns of use
Fear of change
In working with a chronic condition, one has to take time to acknowledge the complexity of the circumstances, to be respectful of fears and worries, to avoid the ambition ‘to fix’ the ‘problem’, to bring compassion and patience to the lessons.
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