Bad, Mad, Sad

Are you feeling bad, mad, or sad?

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿, and just as important is knowing what you are feeling and being able to articulate them.

Not knowing is called alexithymia, which means an inability to describe our own emotions. It can also be associated with difficulty with identifying different types of emotions.

Critically not understanding or being able to describe our own emotions has far-reaching effects. With the appropriate language we can understand and share what we are experiencing. Labelling an emotional experience results in ‘greater emotional regulation and psychological wellbeing’. Without this capacity we may not even know how to make sense of an experience for ourselves. If we can’t understand and share our experience, then how can we ask for help, or get what we need?

Naturopathy and chronic pain

A set of excellent guidelines by NPS MedicineWise includes complementary medicine approaches as part of overall health care planning for those in chronic pain. The specific recommendations also include aspects of life such as physical fitness, mood, sleep, relaxation and overall health. I find these inclusions so positive as they support a holistic approach to pain management and importantly, these aspects fall squarely within the scope of naturopathy, meaning specifically that working with a naturopath can have a health benefit in these areas. I have long held that naturopathy’s holistic approach fits well with the medical biopsychosocial model of chronic pain management and these guidelines further reinforce this approach.

A holistic approach to chronic pain

An article in the Australian Pain Newsletter by pain specialist Dr Chris Hayes (2016) really stood out to me recently as it emphasises the necessity for a holistic approach to the management of chronic non-cancer pain. The biopsychosocial model is widely accepted as the predominant framework for understanding the experience of chronic pain and its negative consequences, and is supported by a large body of research. The model takes a broad and holistic view of the factors that contribute to chronic pain and the interaction of biological (genetic, biochemical, trauma), psychological (mood, behaviour) and social factors (familial, medical, work place etc) and was developed to counter the biomedical model, which suggests that disease is the result of only biological factors.