Pain can have many forms physical (e.g. back pain), psychological (trauma, loss and bereavement) and social (blame, guilt, isolation and overwhelm), environmental (degradation and languishing).
Pain is essential for health because like an important messenger it tells us about damage or risk of harm. But sometimes it gets lost, stuck or shouts too loud.
30-50% of people in UK struggle with chronic pain that causes:
Disability & distress
Depression & drug use
Disrupting sleep & depleting energy
Damaging relationships
Diminishing work performance
NICE 2025
Paradoxically trying harder to resist pain can sometimes reinforce it, so sadly many people suffer also from feeling trapped.
