Lesson 2: But Hold Your Horses.

So in lesson one I started by acknowledging how specialists can leave you thinking that your pain is all in your head. And then proceeded to show why that is completely true! –– Which was not the goal of this course at all.

Pain is, 100% of the time, a complete illusion created by your brain. But I can’t leave you there. And moreover, this illusion thing is only technically true.

In reality your pain is 100% real. Which leaves us in a bit of a confusing paradox, doesn’t it!

How can something be both 100% illusory AND 100% real? How do we solve that paradox?

Well pain is real because we all feel it. It’s part of the human experience. If we didn’t feel pain we’d have a short life because we wouldn’t notice a potentially fatal injury, or that our hand is on a burning stove, or that we’re falling into hypothermia etc.

So pain is real for all of us, whether it’s immediate pain (like stubbing a toe) or persistent (like you’re suffering). It’s only the technical mechanism that’s illusory –– and it’s only an illusion that the pain seems to be coming from the tissue area in question.

It’s an important distinction because in acute pain, it serves us to believe the traumatised area is the source of pain because it makes us protect it and or seek guidance to heal it.

In persistent pain however, this illusory mechanism is projecting pain onto an area that isn’t necessarily in any danger. Which is why a specialist will say the tissue area in not damaged and leave you thinking you’re making it all up.

So if we can understand exactly why we have this illusion –– beyond keeping us safe in acute injury –– we might be able to make sense of this paradox and move beyond persistent pain.

So let’s tackle that in the next lesson…