Imagine you’re a POW… how would you cope with that stress?  What skills and personality characteristics would help you survive?  What attitudes would help you go through that, but avoid anxiety, depression or PTSD?

Two psychiatrists, Dennis Charney at Mt. Sinai and Steven Southwich at Yale, looked at extremely stressful situations – being a POW or experiencing physical and sexual abuse - to see what traits make someone resilient.  They also looked at serious physical illness as one of the stressful situations, so these secrets apply to us who deal with pain, too.  They found these characteristics to be key: 

1. Be optimistic
2. Develop strong personal beliefs, e.g. a strong spirituality
3. Be altruistic – help others
4. Find a role model who copes well with difficulty
5. Learn to face your fears
6. Develop active coping skills
7. Nurture close, meaningful relationships
8. Keep fit
9. Laugh frequently (more about this next Monday)
10. Be open and flexible

The wonderful thing about these crucial traits is that they can be learned.  Practice them… attend to them… develop them, and they can all help you cope with chronic pain.