The 3 P’s and the Key to Understanding Your CYCLE OF PAIN AND DISCOMFORT
The 3 P’s and the Key to Understanding Your CYCLE OF PAIN AND DISCOMFORT
By James E. “Jed” Foster, Jr., MA, LMFT
I get downright giddy when I stumble across a simplified explanation of a complex process. Every once in a while, someone comes along with a brilliant alphanumeric masterpiece that helps us wrap our heads around a concept and lets us choose a shortened path of understanding. “5 ways to this,” “The ABC’s of That,” and “3 Steps to understanding A, B, and C.” Well, thank you, Brian Blum of the Jerusalem Post for sharing his doctor’s “3 P’s” explanation of the gastrointestinal pain feedback loop.
https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Is-it-all-in-my-head-593118
This article is brilliant in its simplicity and it is cloaked in an empathetic understanding of the GI patient that finds it challenging to accept the psychological influence on physical discomfort. Sometimes “there could be some psychological factors influencing your pain and other symptoms” translates to “it’s all in your head” and the mental health stigma machine starts churning. “Wait, my stomach hurts and you’re telling me to talk to a therapist???” It’s a leap some patients find difficult to accept, especially after undergoing a number of invasive tests in search of a physical explanation for their pain. So when a physician can simplify the explanation and deliver it in a package that makes both scientific and logical sense, everybody wins. For Brian Blum, the 3 P’s was the perfect package, and so I’d like to deliver that same package to you.
The 3 P’s of the PAIN CYCLE:
PREDISPOSITION. Usually, we have an underlying predisposition for the symptom in question. In Mr. Blum’s case, it was Crohn’s disease and his “long-standing relationship to pain.” In short, his body and mind were already hyper-vigilant to changes and sensations in the gut.
PRECIPITATING FACTORS. Life events, injuries, viral infections, bacterial overgrowth: all of these types of precipitating factors can play a major role in the onset of a new set of symptoms.
PERPETUATION. This is where the mind-body connection perpetuates the cycle: the stress response. Pain and anxiety go hand-in-hand. The body feels pain and we become anxious. Anxiety and stress amplify pain and other body sensations…and thus the cycle is triggered.
Understanding the 3 P’s helps us understand that if we can treat and control the anxiety and stress, we can alter the way we experience and respond to pain and discomfort. We can use the mind-gut connection to arrest or subdue the stress response, which subsequently turns down the “volume” on our pain and discomfort. Learning how to control anxiety can teach us how to control our pain.
Please read this wonderful article, and then give me a call to set up a consultation. I’d be happy to explain how I employ a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Gut-directed Hypnotherapy, Mindfulness and Relaxation training, and Positive Psychology to help you learn to use the mind-gut connection to not only change your relationship with pain, but to increase your overall sense of well-being as you take control of your symptoms. Call 224.407.4400 or visit compgihealth.com to schedule an appointment or learn more!