Alan and Alon discuss how to teach your brain to turn off the fear of chronic pain by introducing corrective experiences and setbacks. They provide real life examples with pain sufferers Sue and Christie. Discover how interpreting sensations differently, paying attention with less effort, and exploring somatic tracking can help alleviate pain and fear.
Interpreting pain sensations through a lens of danger can contribute to increased pain perception, but changing the interpretation to safe reduces fear and intensity.
Collecting enough corrective experiences, where exposure goes well and reduces fear, helps the brain learn that the pain is not dangerous.
Deep dives
Teaching Your Brain to Deactivate Pain
In this podcast episode, the hosts discuss a technique to teach your brain to deactivate pain. They introduce the concept of interpreting pain sensations through a lens of danger and how it can contribute to increased pain perception. Using an example of a woman experiencing heart pounding sensations, they emphasize the importance of changing the interpretation of these sensations from dangerous to safe, reducing fear and intensity. The hosts highlight the significance of corrective experiences, where exposure to feared triggers goes well and reduces fear, and setbacks, where exposure triggers more fear and setbacks. They explain that the goal is to maximize corrective experiences and minimize setbacks, providing examples from their personal experiences and patient cases.
Fear and Corrective Experiences
The hosts delve deeper into the relationship between fear and corrective experiences. They explain that fear fuels pain and that exposure to feared triggers can lead to either corrective experiences or setbacks. Corrective experiences occur when exposure goes well, reducing fear, while setbacks occur when exposure triggers more fear, escalating pain perception. They emphasize the importance of collecting enough corrective experiences to help the brain learn that the pain is not dangerous. They provide examples of corrective experiences, such as walking without pain or having tension in muscles without chronic discomfort. Additionally, they share examples of setbacks, instances where exposure worsened fear and pain perception. They reassure listeners that setbacks are temporary and that with trust in the process, continued work, and minimizing fear, recovery is achievable.
Case Study: Overcoming Thumb Pain
The hosts present a case study featuring an intern struggling with thumb pain caused by typing. They discuss how exposure to pain triggers initially led to a setback, increasing the intern's fear and pain. They then introduce somatic tracking, a technique designed to create corrective experiences. Somatic tracking involves shifting the perspective from anger, frustration, and fear towards pain to a state of indifference, acceptance, and joy. Through somatic tracking, the intern experiences a significant reduction in pain and gains the knowledge that the pain is meaningless and non-threatening. The hosts stress the importance of practicing feeling okay despite the presence of pain, emphasizing that the goal is to change the relationship with pain. They acknowledge that recovery is a gradual process and encourage listeners to be patient, as fear is the fuel for pain but can be overcome with perseverance.
Fear is the fuel that keeps chronic pain alive. But as many pain sufferers know, it's hard to overcome that fear when it feels so powerful and so automatic. In this episode, Alan and Alon explain how to teach your brain to turn off the fear by introducing a new concept: corrective experiences and setbacks. Alan talks to Sue, who suffers from multiple painful symptoms, and Christie, who feels pain whenever she types. These sessions provide real life examples of corrective experiences and setbacks in action. Finally, Alan and Alon explain how you can use corrective experiences to help your brain unlearn the fear and deactivate your pain.
Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts
Save insights instantly, chat with episodes, and build lasting knowledge - all powered by AI.
