Responding to acute physical pain: strategies to help weather your challenging pain

I recently pulled something in my shoulder and suddenly had a bout of acute pain that lasted for many days. Like most of us, I’ve had my share of injuries and pain, but this issue was so sudden and affected so much of my day to day life that it really threw me off my game. I couldn’t do many of my usual activities and experienced jabbing pains with every micro-movement I made. I found myself catastrophizing, focusing all my attention on the pain and how terrible it was, and it really dominated all my attention.

Read on for strategies for responding to pain…

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4 science-based reasons that practicing gratitude is not flaky, fluffy, or fuzzy

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I know what you’re thinking. How can practicing being grateful not be flaky, fluffy, or fuzzy? It sounds like something a feel-gooder, cheeseball will encourage us to do right after waving incense sticks around, and right before selling you their homemade gratitude memory bowl for $89. (This probably exists.)

Ok, so I sound cynical. It’s true. I may be way too cynical to be a therapist. But I use my cynicism for good! I believe that. My cynicism is actually skepticism, which means I want to know why something works and not just adopt it because it sounds helpful. And, of course, being more grateful SOUNDS helpful! And, it turns out that it IS actually pretty darn helpful.

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5 strategies that can lower your anxiety right now

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Unfortunately, anxiety is part of being human. It will not go away. Not completely. It is just part of our human make up. If you had no anxiety, you would be an alien. In fact, if you think about it, if you had zero anxiety you would probably have a hard time keeping yourself safe in a dangerous environment.

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions

I appreciate this book because Hari is telling his own story of realization as an insider whom has relied on medication and psychiatrists for much of his life. He brings a journalist's research skills and writing, which he then marries with the vulnerability of a person struggling with depression and trying to understand his struggles with…