Psychological Treatment
Anxiety, mood swings, sadness and depression are all too familiar by-products of CRPS. These are due in part to the mysterious, difficult-to-treat nature of this disorder. CRPS can make you feel a loss of control. And to make things worse, health care providers, friends and family members often do not understand CRPS.
Lack of understanding or support from others can cause you to feel isolated, lonely and distressed. This is why it is important that your health care team includes doctors, mental health specialists and other health care providers who understand CRPS.
Negative emotions often make the sensation of pain worse. While experts are not sure why this occurs, it may be that emotions directly activate the parts of the brain involved with pain. Therefore, you must learn to control your emotions in response to the pain itself and to the difficulties that CRPS creates for you.
There are several good techniques that will help you keep your emotions in check. Most are fairly simple and do not require in-depth or long-term counseling. Examples include biofeedback, relaxation training, yoga and clinical hypnosis. The exact ways that these techniques work for pain management are unknown. However, people who regularly use them often say that they suffer less and are better able to cope with long-term pain disorders such as CRPS.
More intensive counseling and/or use of prescription medicine may be needed for more severe and troubling emotional problems. For example, support for stressful events such as divorce or loss of a job or health insurance coverage can be an important part of CRPS management. Prescription medicines may help if you have sleep problems, panic attacks, anxiety or severe depression.
Find the Right Mental Health Specialist
Mental health specialists vary widely in their level of training and experience in helping people with chronic pain. Unfortunately, often there are no credentials that can help you know the difference between professionals who are chronic pain specialists and those who only claim to be (but are really not!). Do the following to find the right mental health specialist for you:
- Get a referral from your pain medicine provider. He or she may be familiar with the skills, experience and qualifications of mental health specialists who could best meet your needs. If the mental health specialist works in a recognized pain clinic, he or she will know about long-term pain issues and will be better able to help you.
- Shop around. Mental health specialists includepsychiatrists, psychologists and social workers. Interview a number of specialists. Choose one who really listens to you and makes you feel like he or she is working with you, not against you. If you are not comfortable with the specialist’s experience with chronic pain or treatment methods, find a different specialist.
Be an Active Part of Your Care Team
If you are living with a painful condition like CRPS, it is important that you are actively involved in your care. In addition to getting formal counseling, learn about CRPS and chronic pain management. This will help you to make the best decisions about your care and empower you to teach others—including health care providers and insurers—about CRPS.
Learn as Much as you Can About CRPS and Treatments
This can help you regain control over your life. Many web sites, self-help books and articles are available for people with chronic pain. You can also ask your pain medicine doctor or read the NPF CRPS resources for more information. If you find treatment information that you are curious about, bring that information to your medical appointments. Always bring an internet link, magazine article or book that contains the new information. Your provider must be able to see where it came from and what information it contains.