What is spirituality?
Spirituality is having a connection to something bigger than our selves.
- It can include personal values and beliefs about the meaning of life.
- Many people have religious beliefs, but spirituality is about having a connection to something bigger.
- Spirituality can also include readings or social communion.
- Separating the spirit or soul from the realm of physical objects is part of spirituality.
- Personal values are connected to one’s cultural beliefs and attitudes.
- Spirituality and life experiences influence how we live our lives and connect with others.
- Types of spirituality include
- Christianity
- Judaism
- Buddhism
- Islam
- Alternative religions
- Any personal faith beliefs
Spirituality can be important for pain management
- Spiritual beliefs influence how we experience pain and the impact that pain has on our lives.
- Spirituality is key to a person’s thinking, feeling, and acting in relation to coping with pain.
- Spirituality can give us strength.
- It provides guidance for how we act in the world.
- It helps focus our attention toward the positive.
- Emotional health and spiritual maturity are connected.
Pain management is a journey. After back surgery, I had multiple visits to the pain clinic for injections. After my second surgery, I was prescribed opiates for pain management. I then had lower back surgery which left me using a walker, a cane and more opiates. At the height of my opiate use, I was taking, daily, 120mg of morphine, 8mg of Dilaudid, 15mg of Valium, and 30mg of sleeping pills at night. Because of the opiate crisis, my family physician notified me he would no longer be able to prescribe opiates for my pain. I became very fearful and anxious and I did not know what I was going to do. How would I get through the daily struggle of living with pain? The only alternatives I could think of were not good ones.
After talking with my family physician, he referred me to a pain specialist and his team: psychological therapists, physical therapists, occupational therapists and a nurse. I was assured that if I did my part working with the team, I would be able to overcome my fears and regain my life. I am a show-me guy, and it had to be proven to me that the process was going to work. An important aspect of my rehabilitation was my spirituality. My faith in God provided everything I needed on this journey. Spirituality was a major component of the psychological journey. A complete bio-psycho-socio-spiritual model was critical to my recovery.
Once I saw the results and came to understand, through experience, that the process did work, it had a profound effect on how I proceeded with the program and the changes it made in my life. Once I knew the system worked, I embraced it wholeheartedly and today my life is better for it. By the grace of God (my form of spirituality), the program, and hard work, I am opiate free and have a new perspective on pain management.
I am no longer on opiates and today I am doing things that are important to me. While I do still struggle with feeling pain, I choose to refer to that pain as “discomfort.” Part of my thinking is based on my spiritual outlook and trusting that God will see me through whatever issues I am dealt. I feel very strongly about the spiritual aspect of my rehabilitation program. I do not know where I would be today on this journey without the faith of my wife, the rehab family and myself.
Prepared by:
Jim and Linda Bright
- Practice prayer and meditation.
- Use prayer and meditation to reframe your thoughts
- Be mindful of where you are in the process of dealing with pain/discomfort.
- Focus thoughts on something greater than your pain or discomfort.
- Find your purpose and desires in life.
- Remember that what you think is what you become.