Fear is Optional

People with fibromyalgia often have experiences that are not direct symptoms of their condition, but occur because of the symptoms. Fear is like that.

Pain is usually thought of as our body signaling us that something is wrong, and our minds respond with fear by imagining all sorts of possible reasons that we hurt.

In my own case, I came to a couple of speedy illusions for my very first fibromyalgia pain. I decided that the reason why I hurt so badly from my neck to my elbow must be that a muscle or ligament was torn. A friend who massaged the area for me told me that she felt lumps in my neck. She thought I should be checked out for cancer. So I feared that my body was damaged. I didn’t have a torn muscle or cancer. The diagnosis was fibromyalgia.

Fibromyalgia is good news and bad news. The good news is that all of the tests are “normal.” You could run me through every medical test you can think of, and the results will demonstrate that I am in good shape. The bad news is pain and a myriad of other symptoms that may never permanently go away.

If you experience something new, you might need to check with a doctor, because people with fibromyalgia can get other things just like anyone else.

But if you recognize your pain as fibromyalgia, you can help yourself by reprogramming your reaction to the repetitive pain. Since pain is most often thought of to signal that something is “wrong,” the fear that accompanies it is almost automatic. You can change your reaction.

Fear can be increased though imagination. During the last 15 years, I have NOT been poisoned, had a heart attack, had tumors, an ulcer, a bowel obstruction, a dislocated shoulder, torn muscles, or cancer. I only felt like I did. I have had fibromyalgia, and I have had fear.

Fear can also be decreased by the creative use of our minds. As I think about my present and my future, I have to accept that I won’t get through the rest of my life free of pain. If I feel pain today, the chances are good that it won’t mean anything except the same old diagnosis, fibromyalgia. It won’t be a signal from my body that something new or something serious is “wrong.”

Fibromyalgia will hurt me, but it won’t damage me. I can acknowledge the pain, acknowledge the fear, and remind myself that both will pass.

If what you are feeling it is that same awful pain you have felt a hundred times before, try taking a deep breath and banishing the fear. Pain without fear is so much easier to bear.

Fibromyalgia will sometimes bring pain that is unavoidable, but fear is optional.