Beautiful Distraction

Deep down I knew playing video games would pay off someday!  The very thing that has been criticized for generations keeps me sane and allows me to function somewhat normally with a sometimes debilitating mental and physical condition.

RSD/CRPS Cycle of Pain

They say chronic pain is all in your head and it is...literally.

"The problem comes when the original injury, the site (in my case the ankle), has healed.  Once the appropriate amount of time has passed, RSD/CRPS says NO!  It still wants to keep sending signals saying the injury is still happening, still going on, and that particular part of the body is still under attack.

This is when the problems really set in.  Many times, depending on what stage the patient is in, there may or may not be outward signs of the disease. But regardless of what is showing on the outside, on the inside, in the brain, the pain cycle is stuck in the firing position where it is continuing to fire repeatedly. The brain believes that the injury is still active, still there so you, the patient, believe you are still hurting because you are feeling the pain! The injury is real to you because the pain is real!"*

Other than the 8 lumbar sympathetic nerve blocks I've had (picture large needle in lower back) and anywhere from 4-6 medications at a time ranging from antidepressants to beta-blockers to narcotics, the only thing that's successful at taking my mind off the pain has been playing video games.  Not TV, movies, work, or even a good book have been able to do what an engaging game of Age of Empires Online has been able to do!  So it's been a great tool for me in coping with non-stop, 24 hour a day pain.

We all know pain hurts but I don't people are fully aware of the mental and psychological implications.  Obviously chronic pain causes depression, but there's also sleep disorders, trouble concentrating, anxiousness and irritability.  And it can all be just so overwhelming and sad.  Then I sit down and get involved in a game, and at least for a little while I can block most of it out, focusing on the game's objective instead of how drastically my life has changed and how bleak my future looks.

So until there's a cure or a treatment that puts my RSD/CRPS into remission, don't think it's weird if I prefer to sit inside on a beautiful day and play a video game.

*From the website American RSDHope, article "CYCLE OF PAIN OF CRPS OR MECHANISM OF RSD" http://www.rsdhope.org/crps-cycle-of-pain-diagram.html