#277 Beware of gremlins #8 The Martyr Syndrome

Some people view life as a cosmic balance scale wherein they expect sacrifices and self-denial to pay off in some positive way. They may see their problem with chronic pain as some kind of cosmic bad luck or retribution: "Why do I have to suffer like this?" or "What good is going to come from having to deal with this pain?" With this kind of thinking, people begin to lose a realistic perspective on their problems.

(Warning: This entry is part of Negativity Week!)

#276 Beware of gremlins #7 The "should's"

Chronic pain can be limiting. Rather than learning to focus on what they can still do, some people regularly tell themselves that they "should" do tasks that are problems for them. For example "I should work in the garden, because the weeds are growing" or "I should really dust all those shelves" or "I should go to that function". People stuck in the "shoulds" continually make mental lists of what activities they ought to accomplish rather than making a reasonable list of activities that they really want to do.

(Warning: This entry is part of Negativity Week!)

#275 Beware of gremlins #6 Mind Reading

A pain sufferer might believe he knows how others are feeling and why they act as they do - especially towards him. He can say "My family think I complain too much" but his family may not think this at all.

(Warning: This entry is part of Negativity Week!)

#274 Beware of gremlins #5 Catastrophizing

This is "What if..." thinking in negative form, "making a mountain out of a molehill". A person with chronic pain might say to herself, "I can't go out with my friends because if my pain acts up, everything will be ruined." As a result, she stops going out.

(Warning: This entry is part of Negativity Week!)

#273 Beware of gremlins #4 Overgeneralizing

A person with this thought pattern might say to himself, "My pain ruined my last social event, so all social activities will be miserable for me." By learning how to look at such events more rationally, he would see that while there are times when his pain limits him, there are other times when it doesn't. He could also learn to recognize when his pain would spoil a particular activity and when it actually wouldn't.

(Warning: This entry is part of Negativity Week!)

#272 Beware of gremlins #3 Polarized thinking

With this thought pattern people see the world in absolutes: everything is either all good or all bad, positive or negative. For example, a person with leg pain that prevents her from walking very much might say to herself, "Well, I can't walk my normal amount, so I won't walk at all." This way her health deteriorates further. Taking a more moderate or balanced view of her life would allow her to set intermediate goals and work towards gradually improving her situation.

(Warning: This entry is part of Negativity Week!)