No Pill Can Make You Happy With Life

by Rev. Dr. Daryl C. Greene

Due to the fact that there is a body-mind-spirit connection, people who contend with chronic pain often fall into a vicious cycle of
chronic pain leading to depression, leading to more pain. Yet the
television commercial that asks "Where does your depression hurt?"
irritates me to no end. It suggests that depression may cause
physical pain and that the way to cope with the pain is to take
antidepressants.

20 years ago I was diagnosed with a rare disease that causes chronic pain, especially in my legs. There is no day without
discomfort. In my own experience, there is no direct causal link
between feeling depressed and the level of pain. I may feel down on
a day when my legs don't hurt quite so much. Or, on another day my
level of pain may be high, yet I feel up, and good about myself and
what I am doing with my life.

Coping with pain is easy. I can ignore it. Or, as I explained in mbook, I can reduce it by doing physical exercise, getting a massage
or relaxing in meditation. Doing these things may not take all the
pain away, but I have found no drug that takes it all away either.

Like all people who have a physical disability, I have good and baddays. But having a good day has less to do with my level of pain,
and more to do with my level of physical energy, which also goes up
or down every day. There is a much more direct link between having
low energy and feeling depressed. I call managing this cycle
"riding the tide".

Part of riding the tide is knowing when my energy will be low anddeveloping some "anchors" that help me to deal with the waves and storms of emotion that may arise. I have learned that the tide will
be low after a big, exciting, high energy day. So, my first anchor
is to give myself permission to declare a Sabbath day and just lay
low without feeling guilty. On such days I know that I am likely to
beat myself up with depressive thoughts about not being faster, and
not being more successful. So, I put those thoughts in brackets. I
hear the "chatter" of these voices in my head, but I know that they
don't have anything to do with reality and that they will go away
when my energy comes back.

It is important to note that in some cases, bio-chemical imbalances in the brain may cause or contribute to depression and other types
of mental illness. Drug therapy may be able to correct those
imbalances and improve one's mood.

However, no pill can make you feel happy or satisfied with your life. No drug can make you a positive, loving person. No
prescription can give you the feeling that your life is meaningful
and worth living. Only a healthy spirit can give you these things
and truly break the cycle of pain and low energy leading to
depression, leading to more pain and low energy.

Dr. Greene is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ and a resident of Richmond, IN. He is also the author of Benjamin's Dog Joseph, Feeling Better: The Wisdom of the Doc, You Can Feel Better: How to cope with chronic pain and physical disabilities, and co-author of Walking Free: the Nellie Zimmerman Story.

For further information about his books, please visit www.densmorereid.com

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