Why is it so hard to study and stay focused when I'm in pain?

Animação produzida para complementar o tratamento com uma pessoa que sofre com dores crônicas e não tem habilidades linguisticas com o português e tem conhecimento razoável em inglês. O video foi posteriormente traduzido e o audio ficou em seu idioma natal - recurso no DoodleMaker.

Why is it so hard to study and stay focused when I'm in pain?

When we feel pain, several areas of our brain are activated: some areas that indicate where it hurts (those that recognize our body part), other areas that indicate how it hurts (if is it hot, cold, pressure or electric pain), when it hurts (to recognize if pain increase when we touch or move our painful body part), and why it hurts (if we are able to understand a proba

ble cause?).

Interpreting our pain also requires the brain to recall our previous experiences in order to compare this pain with other pains we have had before. That's why memory and concentration areas are required.

But if you have chronic pain, pains like fibromyalgia, diffuse and persistent pain throughout the body, constant or repetitive pain... this story of interpreting pain in the brain has other chapters.

When pain is persistent, this repetition of painful information makes this pathway in the brain increasingly used to interpret pain.

Therefore, the longer a person has pain, the harder it is for him to concentrate on studies, work or other tasks. Because the areas of the brain that register memory and help us learn are also busy trying to make sense of that annoying, persistent pain!

Some important points for us to change this story:

1. our brain is dynamic and as we live it learns. So, just as he learned to use various areas to interpret pain, we can help him learn (or remember) what it's like to feel sensations other than pain.

2. for the brain pain is important, as it understands it as an alarm signal. But in the case of chronic pain, it is important for us to remember that it does not represent a danger to our body, but that chronic pain is the result of using various areas of the brain in an attempt to solve an initial, old problem, which is already it is no longer present in the parts of the body that hurt. Chronic pain is the result of persistent activity in regions of the brain, and this activity impairs memory, attention and even body movements.

The first step is to understand that even though it hurts, this pain does not pose a danger to our bodies.

3. If we feel insecure, the brain will keep these areas of pain active, and will not allow us to help it feel sensations other than pain. Therefore, the first step is to understand that this persistent, boring and old pain no longer represents any risk of damage to the health integrity of the body.