Victim makes one sound helpless.  I think I am still in denial, lol.

Charlotte

Very good post, and the article was great too, Bob.

I've personally never thought of myself as a Victim of anything...other than my own mind at times!  I prefer the term "Survivor" when talking about finite medical conditions.  I don't really think of my headaches or other medical conditions as things that I am a victim or survivor of, because they are ongoing, daily parts of my life.  I am NOT my conditions, but my conditions ARE a part of me and have affected who I am as a person in some way.

A long time ago, I wrote a post on a couple of different headache message boards about positive things I've gained from the headaches.  I do note the things I've lost, in particular my personal dream of becoming a doctor, but I also note the things I've gained - and those things are many.

I was just telling someone today that if you believe that nothing will work (in terms of treatments), then it is likely that nothing will work.  I'm not saying that the mind controls all the physical aspects of our condition, but mindset plays a huge role.  We have to, at the very least, go into each treatment believing that it will work or at least has a chance of working.  Assuming that a treatment will not work before even starting it is like shooting yourself in the foot.

Also mindset plays a part in how we deal with the actual attacks.  It is my personal belief that losing it, flying off the handle, or getting severely agitated or worked up during an attack only serves to make it more intolerable to bear.  Everyone is different in how they deal.  I know some ER docs have looked at me, at least, and declared that I couldn't be in the pain I said I was in because I wasn't yelling and screaming, crying, carrying on and so on.  Personally I cannot react to pain, even severe pain, that way - there are usually minor ways of breaking down, but for the most part I think of trying to meditate and stay calm through the pain and BREATHE - as best I can.  Obviously CH still makes me anxious during the attacks, but I try as best I can not to let it take my mind, too.  If I can try to stay calm in spite of how absolutely horrible I am feeling, then I think it makes the pain a little bit easier to bear.

I'm sure some people will probably say that means I haven't experienced the worst of it, but that's not true.  I'm no perfect person - I've just found that the mind has a large part in how we experience our pain.  The more anxious and agitated I get when in pain (and there are times I just can't help it), the worse it seems to be.  I know when I woke up from my bilat knee surgery, I was shaking and had tears streaming down my face from the pain, and the nurse came over and said, "You're just making it worse" - but my reactions were actually totally involuntary.  They started before I even fully awoke and realized the intensity of the pain.  Sometimes you just can't help it.  After my stim surgery, I was also in quite a lot of pain - but I only started crying once I saw my parents - and then no matter how hard I tried, those tears would keep starting up again.  But getting worked up just seems to make it worse in the long run.

Anyway - I went on a long tangent.  I just meant really to say that it's a great post and a good thing to think about.  I say I'm a victim of my own mind sometimes because I let my own depression get the best of me sometimes.  I let those distorted thoughts really make me feel worse than I should.  Your post and article are a good reminder to say, "Hang on a second.  What is a rational answer to this irrational thought?"

Thanks

Carrie