A solid support network of people is of utmost importance for individuals living with chronic pain. During the bad (aka regular) and awful days, having people who can support you and be sympathetic will remove a lot of stress from your shoulders.
They won’t fix any issues you experience, but they will help you however they can and be empathetic of your limitations and your illness. This network will act as a pillar to support your crumbling life and avoid it breaking into a messier situation.
The opposite of this is toxicity. Suddenly, you’ll realize you have at least a few toxic people in your life. They will belittle your pain, say you’re faking it, be mad at you because you can’t do something with them due to your condition, and blame you for the chronic pain you suffer.
No matter how hard you try to explain to them what you feel, hoping they will eventually understand and show empathy towards you, it’s a wasted effort. Remove toxic people from your life as fast as you can. It will save you a lot of stress, and, as you know or will soon discover, stress can be a trigger for chronic pain.
It will be hard to cut ties, but you’ll ultimately realize it’s harder to endure the stress and pain they’ll put you through. And believe me, they will.
Unfortunately, an exception to this will be rare. If you find one, I will be very happy for you ❤️.
image from Unsplash
