Bouncing Back: Skills for Adaptation to Injury, Aging, Illness, and Pain

by Richard L Wanlass

Decline in our physical and mental abilities may be due to injury, illness, or chronic pain, or may simply be the results of normal aging. Sometimes changes in ability are gradual enough and minor enough that we adapt to them effortlessly. In other circumstances, however, these ability changes are more abrupt or more pronounced and pose a real challenge to our coping resources. In Bouncing Skills for Adaptation to Injury, Aging, Illness and Pain, Richard Wanlass shares new research findings and observations of what he has learned in his thirty-five years of helping others adapt to these changes.

Bouncing Back presents seven modules associated with changes in ability, including self-management, mood regulation, stress and anxiety management, anger and frustration management, relationship management, memory management, and pain management. Exercises follow almost every section to ensure concepts are understood and practiced. These developed tools provide new resilience skills and strategies to become better at change. They address the specific challenges of the broad and growing population of those learning to adapt to their loss of ability, and should be of aid for the public and for rehabilitation psychologists and neuropsychologists in their practice.

225 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 3, 2017

Reviews

[J Crossley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Wanlass discusses the physical and mental problems that can be caused by illness, injury, and chronic pain. Chronic pain can depress your mood which results in more pain and a lower mood. He suggests that you need to engage in serious self-management to deal with these problems so that these issues do not cause you more strife. Some of the things that can help people adapt to chronic pain is to stay upbeat, control their stress, and manage their frustration. In order to change your mood you have to change your behavior. Find activities that you enjoy and make them a part of your life.

The author speaks about chronic anger and how it can hurt you (and possibly kill you). Facing these health limitations can increase your anger. This frustration makes things worse. By learning what your “anger triggers” are you can learn effective ways to deal with them.

Relationships are important to help you manage your issues. You need the support. This will help you deal with your pains better.

Pain scientists use the term “pain gate” to describe the nervous-system mechanism that regulates the degree of pain you feel. Remaining positive and relaxed helps to close the pain gate. Feelings of exhaustion and hopelessness opens the pain gate. There are a number of mechanisms that help you to close the pain gate.

• When you feel down, your pain increases. In order to feel better, socialize, be grateful, and smile.
• Movement is important to feel better. Many times people with injury or illness stay in bed, but this makes you feel worse. Moving your body will help you to feel better.
• Relaxation will close the pain gate. Deep breathing and meditating are good methods to accomplish relaxation.
• Switch your attention to something other than your pain.
• Avoid always talking about your pain and expressing your pain through facial expressions and moans. You will feel the way that you behave. If you always act like you are in pain you will end up always in pain.
• Utilize adaptive thinking. You can think about pain in two ways—either negatively or positively. Negative thinking puts you in a downward spiral. Thinking positively about your situation and what you can still do brings you up.