CPS = Chronic Pain Sucks
Chronic Pain Syndrome (CPS) is a debilitating condition with effects far beyond the physical. To never be able to get away from the pain of a traumatic injury, at rest or asleep, is a fact of life for chronic pain sufferers. The harsh reality for these victims is often a life of depression and anxiety, riddled with doctors' visits and medications that try to numb your body while effectively altering your consciousness. Depending on your personal constitution and pre-accident attitude toward life, if you are a victim of an accident resulting in CPS, you should know how to tap your inner resources to put up the best possible fight against a condition which will change your life.
As I am not a chronic pain sufferer, I can not offer first-hand knowledge and advice. As an attorney for victims with CPS, I can offer some observations about how some of my clients are coping:
1. Don't Lose Yourself - If you used to be an avid novel reader or hobbyist, keep reading and keep hobbying, even if your tolerance and concentration is a fraction of what it used to be. Stay focused on the activities of daily life that you've always enjoyed and continue to do them, no matter how slow or feeble you may feel your attempts are.
2. Keep a Pain Journal - Maintaining a daily record of your aches and pains is a good way of documenting your plight for your attorney to use to support your litigation. More importantly, the journal is a vehicle for you to vent your mind about all the issues concerning your chronic pain condition. Sometimes, just by seeing your problems outlined on paper, perspective is gained and some level of comfort or acceptance attained.
3. Embrace Your New World - In death, it is said, there are at least 4 stages, the last of which is 'acceptance'. If you've been unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with CPS, the quicker you get to the acceptance stage, the less difficulty you'll have moving forward. While the Internet can be dangerous because too much information may overburden an already overwrought mind, to read about and confer with other people with CPS and compare stories and anecdotes can only help to show you that you're not alone and the path you're on is filled with people who can offer you some measure of perspective and an ear to listen.
As I am not a chronic pain sufferer, I can not offer first-hand knowledge and advice. As an attorney for victims with CPS, I can offer some observations about how some of my clients are coping:
1. Don't Lose Yourself - If you used to be an avid novel reader or hobbyist, keep reading and keep hobbying, even if your tolerance and concentration is a fraction of what it used to be. Stay focused on the activities of daily life that you've always enjoyed and continue to do them, no matter how slow or feeble you may feel your attempts are.
2. Keep a Pain Journal - Maintaining a daily record of your aches and pains is a good way of documenting your plight for your attorney to use to support your litigation. More importantly, the journal is a vehicle for you to vent your mind about all the issues concerning your chronic pain condition. Sometimes, just by seeing your problems outlined on paper, perspective is gained and some level of comfort or acceptance attained.
3. Embrace Your New World - In death, it is said, there are at least 4 stages, the last of which is 'acceptance'. If you've been unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with CPS, the quicker you get to the acceptance stage, the less difficulty you'll have moving forward. While the Internet can be dangerous because too much information may overburden an already overwrought mind, to read about and confer with other people with CPS and compare stories and anecdotes can only help to show you that you're not alone and the path you're on is filled with people who can offer you some measure of perspective and an ear to listen.
Comments