The Pain Survival Guide
Despite recent advances in the study of pain, there is still no medical treatment, alternative therapy, or herbal remedy that can eliminate all pain for all people all of the time. And many who suffer chronic pain know all too well the risks of over-reliance on pain medications.
Only you know the ins and outs of your pain; only you can change your feelings of helplessness and despair into empowerment and resilience in the face of persistent pain and its many effects on your life.
The authors of this bestselling book are highly-respected experts on pain management who have successfully treated thousands of patients. Their 10-lesson self-management program offers clinically-proven strategies for making simple, gradual adjustments to daily patterns so you can take cope with chronic pain and take charge of your life.
Readers of this book will learn how to:
- Identify and reject harmful myths about pain
- Balance activity and rest
- Fix sleep problems
- Leverage family and friends for support
- Manage emotional response to pain
- Regain self-confidence
- Avoid relapsing into unhealthy behaviors
This edition offers important information on the risks of opioid use for chronic pain, and discusses new treatment options including acceptance and commitment therapy, mind-body interventions such as tai chi, and cannabinoids.
It also includes a Resource Guide that shows readers how to access support groups and find help paying for health insurance and medication; offers tips for communicating with healthcare teams and employers; and recommends mobile apps to assist with self-management strategies.
A Word Before You Get Started: How This Program Can Change Your Life
- Lesson 1. Becoming Your Own Pain Management Expert
- Lesson 2. Activity, Rest, and Pacing
- Lesson 3. Learning to Relax
- Lesson 4. Are You Always Tired? Ways to Combat Fatigue
- Lesson 5. Don't Let Pain Ruin Your Relationships!
- Lesson 6. Changing Behavior
- Lesson 7. Changing Thoughts and Feelings
- Lesson 8. Gaining Self-Confidence
- Lesson 9. Putting it All Together
- Lesson 10. Maintenance and Coping with Setbacks
Appendix A. Common Treatments for Pain
Appendix B. Additional Reading
Appendix C. Web and Mobile Resources for Pain
Appendix D. Research Supporting This Pain Management Program
Index
About the Authors
Dr. Dennis C. Turk has been involved in the assessment and treatment of people with chronic pain conditions for more than 30 years.
He currently holds the John and Emma Bonica Endowed Chair in Anesthesiology and Research and Professor of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is also currently associate director of Analgesic, Anesthetic, and Addiction Clinical Trial Translations, Innovations, Opportunities, and Networks (ACTTION), a U.S. Food and Drug Administration supported public-private partnership; and editor-in-chief of The Clinical Journal of Pain.
He lives in Seattle, Washington.
Dr. Frits Winter is director of the Medisch Centrum Winter, a treatment center for pain, stress, and burnout in Veldhoven, Netherlands.
From 1996–2002 Dr. Winter was president of the Dutch chapter of the International Association for the Study of Pain. He is a pioneer in developing therapy programs for chronic pain. In 2002 he received the Golden Spell of Honor award for his work as head of the Pain Division in the Roessingh Rehabilitation Center in Enschede, Netherlands.
Dr. Winter is the author of several self-help books on the topics of pain, anxiety, fatigue and memory.
He lives in Haaksbergen, Netherlands.
Welcome to the resource library for The Pain Survival Guide: How to Become Resilient and Reclaim Your Life, Revised Edition. The links below provide blank versions of many of the pain self-management journal forms seen throughout the book. We also have included a Q & A about concerns you might have when getting active (either for the first time or after a long period of inactivity).
Additionally, we included a pain self-assessment form, which you can use to monitor your own progress in feeling better. You can also use the self-assessment to guide conversations with your health provider.
Finally, we included a list of websites, health news outlets, blogs, podcasts, social media sites, and apps you can explore as you design your pain self-management program. We hope you find these extra features useful.
These documents are offered for your personal use. If you reprint or adapt them for publication, permission is required from the publisher. All material is ©2020 by the American Psychological Association unless otherwise noted. The opinions and statements presented in these documents are the responsibility of the authors, and such opinions do not necessarily represent the policies of the American Psychological Association.
Contents
- Lesson 2. My Current Activity Baseline (PDF: 25KB)opens in new window(Word)opens in new window
- Lesson 2. My Activity Tracker (PDF: 21KB)opens in new window(Word)opens in new window
- Lesson 2. Common Problems When Becoming More Active (Word)opens in new window
- Lesson 7. My ABCD for Stressful Situations (PDF: 19KB)opens in new window(Word)opens in new window
- Lesson 10. My Flare-Up Management Plan (PDF: 10KB)opens in new window(Word)opens in new window
- Pain Self-Assessment (Word)opens in new window
- More Resources for Pain (Word)opens in new window
