While gratitude may be the focus of American Thanksgiving each November, it’s actually a beneficial habit year-round that can even help with pain management. Seriously!
Studies show gratitude has a slew of benefits for patients, including that grateful patients have an overall better perception of their physical health, are more likely to participate in healthy activities and are more willing to seek help for health concerns.(1) And that’s not all, gratitude lowers blood pressure, lowers stress, improves sleep quality, reduces depression symptoms and improves eating habits.(2)
All of those benefits sound well and good, but let’s look at how gratitude impacts pain levels and how we can create a lifestyle filled with more gratitude.
Gratitude and Pain Management
From the beginning, let’s be clear about the promises of gratitude and pain management: Gratitude cannot make all pain go away. Just like most treatment options for IC, this is a strategy to help more effectively manage the pain you do have.
A study looking at arthritis patients measured patients’ self-reported levels of pain while having them participate in four weekly programs about gratitude with animated guides and mindfulness exercises. Pain levels, including anxiety about pain and fear of movement causing pain, was reduced in all 81 patients who participated.(3)
Another study examined the impact of gratitude on patients with lower back pain and found those with a more grateful attitude reported lower pain and had a better overall sense of wellbeing.(4)
While gratitude isn’t going to remove all pain, research supports the idea of thankfulness improving quality of life and being a valid way to reduce pain — at least a bit. Every little bit of pain reduction counts!
How to Practice Gratitude
Living in gratitude takes intention. Feeling grateful for anything can be especially challenging when your health is poor, and you’re in pain. Add in the giant curveballs sometimes thrown by life, and we struggle to survive each day, let alone feel thankful for anything!
But, a few simple practices can help you live with more of an attitude of gratitude no matter what is going on with your health or life circumstances.
Keep a gratitude journal.
This is probably the most recommended tip you’ll find on how to live with more gratitude. That’s because it works!
I’ve experienced this firsthand. A few years ago, I was struggling with increased pelvic pain and more anxiety. It was a hard time.
At my husband’s suggestion, I started a gratitude journal and challenged myself to write down three things each evening for which I was thankful. The catch was I couldn’t write the same things each day, and I had to look beyond just basic, trite answers like family.
It didn’t take long for me to start paying attention to good things happening each day so I could write them down each evening. We are more likely to notice and remember negative things, but having a reason to look for positive happenings is the first step forward in living with more gratitude.
You can buy a gratitude journal, use an app or just use a plain notebook. Find whatever works best for you, and give it a try. Set a timeframe of at least two weeks to commit to daily writing down three things you’re thankful for, and then see how you feel at the end of the time. Chances are your mental health — and as a result physical health — will have improved at least somewhat.
Write a thank-you note.
Showing gratitude to someone else gets us thinking about the ways people around us positively impact our lives. Write a thank-you note (whether digital or physical) to someone in your life you want to thank.(5) Not only will you be working on a more grateful mindset, you’ll also be encouraging someone else!
However, if you want to thank someone who you are unable or uncomfortable sharing a thank-you note with, then you can still write the note and just hang onto it. Taking the time to reflect on your gratitude in this way will help you live with more gratitude.
Either way, you can make thank-you notes part of a regular gratitude routine. Challenge yourself to write one weekly, monthly or whatever works best for you.
Do a random act of kindness.
The holiday season is often rife with opportunities for random acts of kindness, but these are needed all year long. Doing something nice for someone else without expecting anything in return feels good. It gives us the chance to be thankful we were able to help someone have a better day.
Try one of these random acts of kindness ideas:
- Pay for the order of the car behind you at the drive-thru.
- Write a positive review online for a local business or healthcare provider.
- Smile and say hello to a stranger you pass.
- Pick up litter you spy while out and about.
- Compliment someone.
- Bake a sweet treat for someone.
Make a list of IC positives.
Nobody wants or chooses to be diagnosed with IC. Yet, no matter how long you’ve been dealing with IC, you can find something positive in the midst of the struggle. Sit down and make a list while you intentionally think about the things you’re grateful for that have happened because of having IC. This might be friends you’ve made, lessons you’ve learned, ways you’ve been helped and so on.
Look for small things that make you happy.
Incorporating small things regularly into your life that make you happy can give you a more positive attitude which helps you live with more gratitude. Maybe it’s painting your nails (this is mine!) or listening to your favorite music or spending your lunchtime reading a book, find ways to regularly work in little things that make you happy.
Come up with an alphabet gratitude list.
If you’re up for a bit of a challenge, try making an alphabet gratitude list. Start with something you’re thankful for that starts with the letter “A,” then move on to “B,” “C,” “D” and so on.(6)
Keep the list somewhere you can refer back to it on hard days.
References:
- Hill PL. et. al. Examining the Pathways between Gratitude and Self-Rated Physical Health across Adulthood. Pers Individ Dif., Vol. 54, No. 1, Jan. 2014.
- Cozean N. 7 Health Benefits of Gratitude. Pelvic Sanity. Nov. 23, 2020.
- Swain N, et. al. Gratitude Enhanced Mindfulness (GEM): A Pilot Study for an Internet-Delivered Programme for Self-Management of Pain and Disability in People with Arthritis. J of Pos Psych. June 2019.
- Makhoul M, et. al. Exploring the Relationship Between Gratitude and Depression Among Older Adults with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Sequential Mediation Analysis. Front Pain Res. May 5, 2023.
- Murphy JL., et. al. 5 Exercises to Ease Chronic Pain with Gratitude. Psychology Today. Dec. 7, 2021.
- Healthline. How to Acquire Gratitude when Living with Chronic Pain. PainScale.
