Hello Brains!
Having ADHD makes life hard.
When you're in pain, too, it makes life hard as f***
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We already have a hard time focusing and getting stuff done.
And if we're in pain on top of that, it can be downright impossible.
Pain is distracting.
And our brains are not good at filtering out distractions.
And that's true of any kind of pain.
Long-term pain, or chronic pain, is even worse.
Let's go to the comments.
"Literally, it's debilitating. I have a hard time concentrating...
...at the best of times, but if I'm in a fibro flare...
...it's damn near impossible.
Not only am I in severe pain that refuses to be compartmentalized...
...but it also brings brain fog on strong.
So I can't even hyperfocus on things to distract myself from it."
"People also always make comments to me like...
..."it's always something with you."
And it sucks because I feel like a burden...
...or like people think I'm exaggerating things when I'm not.
Believe me, I wish I could not feel this way.
I'd love to feel "normal"."
"I feel like nobody believes me because my pain is invisible.
It's very very real. It's absolutely exhausting.
On my bad days, I struggle to get out of bed.
Nothing but the absolute necessary is getting done that day."
According to research, children and adults with ADHD...
...are more likely to experience migraines, fibromyalgia, and other chronic pain problems...
...than those without ADHD.
And this is especially true for women with ADHD.
For ADHDers with chronic pain it can be really hard to get things done.
Because you have bad brain days AND bad pain days.
Added to that is the constant feeling of being doubted and dismissed...
...when there's not a visible injury or cause for the pain.
Ragardless of what's causing the pain: pain is pain.
It's
With any kind of pain...
...our natural instinct tells us to avoid things that caused it, or worsen it.
Which, when there's an injury, makes sense.
Pain is protective in those cases.
If you sprained your ankle, you should not run on it.
That will make it worse.
But with many types of chronic pain...
...the pain system is becoming over-protective.
And isn't actually an accurate indicator of injury or danger.
When I was 30, I broke this finger.
And I didn't realize it for 7 months.
I figured I dislocated it and kept doing everything as usual..
...waiting for it to heal. It did not.
I finally went to the doctor and found out I needed surgery.
It was never going to heal on its own.
After the surgery, I planned a lot of time to rest.
The healing process was not quick.
After months of not getting to live my life as usual...
...I started to get depressed.
And the pain got to the point where it felt unbearable.
And I couldn't even handle the physical therapy anymore.
So I stopped going.
Which was bad for my long-term outcome.
I still don't have full mobility in that finger.
Which sucks. But honestly, the pain was so bad...
...I couldn't handle it anymore.
It turns out, pain is a sensor.
Like any other sensor, it can get a bit wonky.
There are a lot of factors that can influence how much pain we experience.
Including emotion.
What?! Why?!
While pain isn't all in your head, it is in your brain.
We know from brain imaging studies...
...that multiple brain regions are involved in pain perception.
Including the parts of the brain responsible for emotion processing.
Like the anterior cingulate cortex and the Amygdala.
Research is starting to indicate that the high prevalence of pain in those with ADHD...
...is likely related to our difficulties with emotion regulation.
Negative emotions like loneliness or hopelessness...
...make pain worse.
And positive emotions can make pain better.
In fact, studies have shown...
...that therapies libe CBT and mindfulness based approaches...
...that focus on regulating emotions, thoughts, and beliefs...
...can help reduce the impact of chronic pain.
Apparently, pain is a physical AND emotional experience.
As defined by the
When people avoid activities they value...
...they miss out on the feelings of joy and social reward...
...that come with hanging out with friends or working with a classmate.
And the potential feeling of accomplishment/reward...
...i.e. Dopamine-boost, that come from meaningful activities.
Like walking their dog and completing a task at work.
So, without the things they value in their life...
...they can start to feel depressed or anxious.
Which maintains, and even worsens, the pain.
Which make them worry about the pain.
And understandably avoid things that might cause pain.
Which means they're doing fewer things they value.
Which makes them feel depressed and/or anxious.
And it's a bit of a downward spiral.
And for those of us with ADHD...
...the Dopamine-boost we get as reward for activities and accomplishing stuff...
...has even more impact.
So if
...we're going to be understimulating our brains.
So what do we do? What we care about.
To the extend that we can.
While it might not make the pain go away...
...doing things we find meaningful improves our quality of life.
That in turn can affect how we experience pain.
So for many types of chronic pain...
...counter-intuitively, research- and pain experts suggest...
...that we break the cycle and DO ALL THE THINGS!
Well, not all the things.
SOME OF THE THINGS!
That are in line with our values!
Within reason!
Wooh!
Obviously, there are going to be days...
...where the pain is bad enough we can't do a whole lot.
Only
Pain is a complex experience. It varies from person to person.
No-one else can tell you how bad your pain is.
It's kind of like when those of us with ADHD have bad brain days...
...and we just aren't able to get certain tasks done.
Even if other people think we "should be able to".
Similarly, with chronic pain sometimes you have a bad pain day.
And there are certain thing that you really can't do.
So it can be useful to come up with a list of things we CAN do.
On good brain, bad pain days. Like reading.
Bad brain, good pain days. Exercise. Etcetera.
So even when it's not a great day for the brain OR the pain...
...we can still do something and get those good rewarding feelings.
That said, 'cause those of us with ADHD...
...aren't always the best judges of what is and isn't "reasonable" to do.
And can be impulsive and overdo things as well.
Talk to your doctor, or physical therapist, about things you can
Our brains can go from zero to sixty.
Our bodies can't.
But in the case of chronic pain...
...we can often do more than our pain is telling us we
While it makes sense to stop doing things that hurt.
When we experience chronic pain...
....the gauge telling us what we can do safely is faulty.
Because the gauge is telling us we can't do that isn't always accurate...
...we don't always have to listen.
We prioritize things we value and do them when we can.
Pain, or our ADHD, isn't the main thing controlling our lives.
We are.
I've linked to a lot more resources on pain in the description below.
Thank you to my Brain Advocates and all my Patreon Brains.
If you'd like a place to connect and talk more about this...
...and you're not aware of it...
...we do have a Discord through Patreon that you can join.
Like, subscribe, click all the things.
And I will see you next video.
Bye Brains!
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