Thread by @Drsafariboob

A thread on #BPD and #Pain (my special interest) from an expert in both.

We (BPD sufferers) have a paradoxical relationship with pain.

We are quite tolerant of acute pain, especially when it's self inflicted.

When it comes to chronic pain we are unusually intolerant 1/10

#BPD IS emotional dysregulation. We also have a paradoxical relationship with emotions, feeling extremes whilst simultaneously being unable to label the feeling.

This concept is unusual for anyone to comprehend, us only becoming aware ourselves when "woken" to our diagnosis 2/10

Chronic pain is often a trigger for people with BPD (a start of a cascade of synapses that snowball to meltdown)
-
(one more time!) Paradoxically, whilst we have chronic pain we're able to ignore the acute pain in the moment

In fact we inflict it ourselves without realising 3/10

Research exists about how self harm aids us. It is a maladaptive response to emotional dysregulation (like the often associated EDs).

The acute pain derived from chronic pain - is subconscious. We become addicted to self-harming behaviour & it helps us regulate our emotions 4/10

So let's paint a picture with this information.

A person, unaware they are mentally ill, causing self harm without realising due to a lack of interroception and slowly walking towards being triggered by unmanaged acute pain that is exacerbating chronic pain 5/10

All because of chronic trauma that has never been assessed or addressed.

Because the people charged with protecting you were absent and nobody ever caught the ball that was dropped 6/10

1 of the (dumb) acronyms used in DBT is PL.E.A.S.E where the PL stands for Physical iLlness (I told you it was dumb)

The management of PL is often interpreted as managing comorbid medical conditions

I'm capitalism we've been conditioned that physical pain is a low priority 7/10

If you are a like me and struggle with #BPD I'm here to impress the importance of managing your musculoskeletal pain

This is exceptionally difficult for us because:

We struggle defining feelings & pain. If you can't define something how do you manage it? 8/10

Part of definition is communicating severity. We 'over feel' chronic pain (and yes it's as painful as it sounds) which confuses professionals

If you are like me you have struggled to find somebody who understands all of the above 9/10

I'm hoping these words help you communicate what's happening to you and help you find the right people to guide you back to health

You deserve the right healthcare 💞

10/10