I know a couple of people with chronic pain conditions such as osteoarthritis which affects the joints and carpal tunnel syndrome. I personally know of one unhealthy way that people deal with chronic pain which is smoking marijuana because it hinders the pain that they are feeling for a couple of hours. Another unhealthy way is drinking alcohol to “numb the pain” so they say. Both of these strategies can make the patient end up forming bad habits that are hard to break. Some people even use food to cope with the pain that they are experiencing which causes them to become overweight and acquire other health issues.
One healthy method of coping with chronic pain is practicing yoga or tai chi because they can have a positive impact on the well-being of the people who practice it. Exercise in general is beneficial for chronic pain patients because of the endorphins that are released from it. Another coping mechanism is meditation and deep breathing because it allows the mind to visualize oneself in a different situation without pain. Joining a support group was another coping mechanism because it allows the patient to be surrounded by other people who have their back and have experienced the same feelings as they have.
As researchers have made progress with using gene therapy to treat chronic pain, they have started to figure out which genes to target in order to treat the disorder. One gene that they have targeted is the Preproenkephalin gene in the amygdala which is responsible for inflammatory pain. The broad type of genes that are targeted are the NOP-coding genes that are also found in the amygdala. After doing my health internship during Jan-term, I learned that opioids are the main inhibitory drug for chronic pain. The only problem with opioids is that they are extremely addictive and have been a problem in this country for a while. I think that psychological factors influence pain perception a lot because as we learned in the ted talk video, there are a lot of outside factors that influence how we perceive pain. I think that if you live in a society that looks down on people who express the feeling of pain, you will be less likely to feel pain than if you live in a society that is indifferent towards it.
Sources:
Lava, N. (2018, June 14). Managing Chronic Pain: 11 Coping Tips for Living With Chronic Back Pain. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/guide/11-tips-for-living-with-chronic-pain#1Myers, B. W., Shapiro, M., Dunleavy, B. P., Rauf, D., & Konkel, L. (n.d.). The Best and Worst Ways to Cope With Pain - Pain Management Center - Everyday Health. Retrieved from https://www.everydayhealth.com/pain-management/the-best-and-worst-ways-to-cope-with-pain.aspxTavares, I., & Martins, I. (2013, February 27). Gene Therapy for Chronic Pain Management. Retrieved from https://www.intechopen.com/books/gene-therapy-tools-and-potential-applications/gene-therapy-for-chronic-pain-management