Explore mental illness, its common symptoms, causes, and treatment options. Learn how to support mental health and seek help when needed.
People who live with chronic pain need options beyond prescription opioids, and it’s up to the British Columbia government to provide more services such as physiotherapy, says the head of a group that supports patients and their families. “There has really been a lack of any appropriate response to chronic pain in our province and in our country,” said Maria Hudspith, executive director of Pain BC, the only non-profit society in Canada to bring together…
The media can’t look to get its stories about Prince right. As the news feed overflows with stories with the word Prince and drug addiction in them, not many of them feature the word chronic pain. Multiple reports show that Prince had suffered from years with Fibromyalgia pain and Severe Chronic Pain in his hips due to injuries racked up during when his performances started. His body was wracked with pain, Prince relied on opiate pain medications to provide him some relief.…
License to treat pain with medicinal cannabis given the go-ahead. A license to treat chronic pain with medicinal cannabis has been granted here for the first time, it has emerged. A 3-month agreement was given the green light by the Department of Health to use Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) people in constant agony. THC is the principal psychoactive constituent of cannabis. It is currently illegal to use medicinal cannabis here – but medical consultants can apply for…
Chronic pain patients need better options, not just fewer opioids. It started as a dull ache right above the base of my spine. There was no injury, no clear cause — just pain that seemed to come out of nowhere. At the time, I thought it would go away in a few weeks. I didn’t know it would turn into a four-and-a-half-year-and-counting odyssey of experimentation to battle lower back pain that simply refused to retreat.…
It’s 7:30 p.m. on a Friday night, and I’m in bed. With my husband and dogs right beside me. Nothing new here, and honestly, most of our friends are probably doing the same thing, but I really wouldn’t know. It wasn’t the diagnosis, or even the pain really, that caused me to start avoiding party invites and happy hour texts from my girlfriends. I don’t really remember when I started drifting so far away, but…
I didn’t ask for this and believe me, I don’t want it. I know you roll your eyes, even when you try and hide it. I know you think I’m exaggerating or being dramatic. But this is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. You’re used to seeing me work and cook, clean, walk, go shopping, and even out with friends. I don’t often complain because if I complained every time I was in pain, I…
To the man who stayed in my life when I asked him to leave. And today we are together since 18 years of marriage. I really don’t know how that happened. Sometimes it feels like we are the same as we were 25 years old. Sometimes it feels like we are like a team that unifies together. But today, since these 18 years we stand by in front of family and friends and made a…
The pain that remains consistent for almost three to six months is commonly known as chronic pain. This is a very common pain. Chronic pain affects millions of people every year. The pain affects various parts of the body like joints, head, back, or shoulders. The pain can have various patterns; sometimes a person can have various shapes of the pain and at times the pain exists in a similar manner. This random pattern makes it…
You might feel a little bit uneasy by the phase of “electroconvulsive therapy”. The mind goes to the days when medical science was not more scientific than it is today and patients were exposed to electric shocks to keep them submissive. Based on your pop culture image of electroconvulsive therapy, it does make sense that you don’t want to consider taking electroconvulsive therapy as a treatment. In popular imaginations, this ECT has really gotten up…
Stress is a complex, natural response to a perceived dangerous threat. When we feel stress, our bodies release extra adrenaline and cortisol, giving us the temporary ability to move faster, to think more quickly, and to react instinctively. When the threat goes away, our bodies return to a neutral state. This response is healthy and helpful. Chronic stress, on the other hand, can lead to huge changes in the body, including higher levels of pain.…