Using Your Mind to Overcome Pain

I originally took up photography because I felt my new perspective would enable me to take interesting pictures.  I knew all along that my leukemia would help with my photography but I never expected my photography to help my battle with leukemia.

When we experience discomfort, it is often with debilitating consequences.  Over the past year, my treatment has provided me with ample uncomfortable moments to try out different coping techniques.  The technique I use most often is taking a deep breath as a procedure is being performed.  This deep breath often reduces the pain. 

But what happens when you are experiencing a constant pain?  I used to try and just focus on my breathing and forget the pain.  Unfortunately, it is very hard to keep your focus when you are in pain, and your mind easily drifts back to the pain. 

It wasn’t until recently that I discovered that a large component of pain is in our mind.  Ironically it was studying photography techniques that led me to this realization.  One technique in photography is the relationship between positive and negative space.  This is the same relationship that psychologists define as subject (figure) and background (ground). 

It is impossible to have a subject without a background.  The purpose of a background is to define the subject by giving it context.  Our mind is constantly selecting subjects and backgrounds.  For example, you are having a conversation with someone at a party with a radio playing in the background.  At the moment your conversation is the subject, and the radio is the background.  But if your favorite song was to come on the radio, the radio would become the subject, and the conversation the background.  Your mind cannot view the subject and background simultaneously, only sequentially. 

You may be saying to yourself, this doesn’t explain how to deal with pain?   Recently I was at the doctor undergoing a painful procedure.  While lying on the table afterwards, trying to cope with the pain I decided to see if I could apply the photography techniques of how our minds works, to control the pain.

I realized that in that moment the pain had become my subject, and everything else the background.  I thought that if I could make something else the subject, and therefore the focus of my mind, the pain would become the background and not hurt as much.  I started tapping on the top of my head with both hands fairly hard.  To my pleasant surprise, my mind instantly focused more on the tapping than the pain. 

Have you ever been told to pinch your finger if you get a cramp while running?  If you have ever done this you have applied this principle without even knowing it J

This technique can be applied to more than just pain.  It can be applied to anytime your mind has focused onto something unpleasant or discomforting. Next time you experience these feelings, try to shift the focus of your mind to a different subject.  If all else fails just start hitting the top of your head.  You may look funny but it works :)

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