Encouraging self-compassion may help people with chronic pain live more active, happier lives
This study suggests mindfulness (which was not linked with greater activity) may also be useful in decreasing depression, but by other means, possibly through creating distance from unhelpful thoughts that may arise around pain or the experience of disability.
As cross-sectional research, we can’t draw clear causal conclusions from the new findings, but they do help us refine our understanding of which mechanisms are more likely to increase pain acceptance. The findings may also help pain management professionals focus their methods, providing people with the ground from which they can build and sustain a life defined not by pain, but by values and meaning.
Mindfulness, selfcompassion, and depressive symptoms in chronic pain: The role of pain acceptance
Alex Fradera (@alexfradera) is Staff Writer at BPS Research Digest
Source: BPS RESEARCH DIGEST - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: BPS Research Digest Tags: Health Source Type: blogs
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