Psychological component in pain management

In the 1980s, Professor Richard Lazarus of the University of Berkeley - California made some remarkable discoveries about human behavior - that a patient with a serious medical problem can recover more quickly by denying or omitting its severity and that emotional reactions to stressful situations can be reduced by providing factual explanations about them, rather than presenting hypothetical (and sometimes catastrophic) scenarios.

At the time of the study, it was found that in some cases of patients who underwent surgical operations, they recovered better after the surgery when they did not worry so much about it beforehand.

"Avoiding what is painful, to a large extent, seems to have a positive function. (...) There is an idea that challenges the old view that psychological health requires total realism."

Not taking away the fact that pain exists and has a physiological origin, the way in which it is dealt with has an important impact on the final result. There is evidence (proven or not by science) that the psychological aspect, namely in terms of empathic information, care for the patient (and not the disease) and the doctor/patient strategy at each moment, improve the treatment experience.

Bowen therapy can also help as it relieves pain, relaxes and balances the body in a gentle way. In this way it even allows the person to think more clearly and be more aware of their body at all times.It also promotes mobility, so that the balance of the body is maintained for longer, providing tools that the person can adopt and adapt in their daily lives.

"We can't stop the waves, but we can learn to surf" - Jon Kabat-Zinn