Credit: iStock Daniel de la Hoz
New research from Edith Cowan University (ECU) has found that people living with chronic pain can protect their mental wellbeing by focusing on new, meaningful goals, rather than simply trying to let go of old ones.
Chronic pain affects around one in five adults worldwide and can disrupt work, relationships and daily life.
The study, led by PhD candidate Paria Eshraghi, involved 190 Australian adults living with chronic pain. Researchers investigated whether effective goal re-engagement (i.e. the ability to re-engage in a new goal) and effective goal disengagement (i.e. the ability to effectively dis-engage), when faced with an unachievable goal, was associated with mental wellbeing in adults living with chronic pain.
Ms Eshraghi said the research found that re-engaging in new goals was linked to higher wellbeing.
"Living with chronic pain often means valued goals, like staying active or social, are no longer achievable in the same way," Ms Eshraghi said.
"We found that people who were able to find new goals and sources of meaning reported better mental wellbeing.
For example, someone who can no longer play sport may benefit from finding new ways to stay connected, such as coaching or volunteering.
However, while re-engaging with new meaningful goals was linked to higher wellbeing, the findings also suggest that simply letting go of goals did not improve wellbeing overall, and for people living with high pain interference (i.e. whose pain had a major impact on daily life), it was linked to lower wellbeing.
"Together the findings suggest that goal re-engagement supports wellbeing in chronic pain, whereas the implications of disengagement may be more nuanced," Ms Eshraghi said.
"When pain severely disrupts life, the research suggests that giving up important goals may feel more like loss than a positive adjustment, however, further research is needed to test this."
Co-author ECU Professor of Mental Health Joanne Dickson said the findings highlight the importance of psychological support in chronic pain.
"How people adapt to pain can shape their wellbeing," Professor Dickson said.
"Supporting people to find new, meaningful goals may be a key part of helping them live well with chronic pain."
The paper 'Goal disengagement and goal re-engagement processes in relation to well-being for people living with chronic pain' is published in Psychological Applications and Trends. Authors on this study are Paria Eshraghi, Deidre Drake, Joanne Iddon and Joanne M Dickson.
